From: "David E. Newport" Subject: Re: Trial of Strength William Sariego writes: > does anyone recall a game ... called Trial of Strength, by Panther > Games? ... I've got a chance to pick a used copy but would like to > know what I'm getting into before shelling out $30. Any bugs in the > game or errata? Any help would be appreciated. Played the game quite a bit, oh, six years ago. Forgive me if I don't remember it perfectly. The game integrates movement and combat. Each unit has 10 MPs, from which it must move and fight. Everything in a player's turn happens in the movement phase. For example: You move your infantry and armor up a hex (1 MP), attack (3MP), mark the infantry with a '4' marker so you know they used 4 MPs, then ram the armor through the hole. Since they move through the battle site which finished after 4 MPs (also marked), the armor starts out again using their fifth MP. Fortunately they use fewer MP to move and attack, so they will still be able to stay ahead of the infantry on the exploit. Now that the armor is done, go back to the infantry, starting off with their fifth MP. You can perform actions in whatever order you wish, just so you get the job done with every units 10 MP and the sequencing is legal. You can do one part of the front first, then move to another part of the front, and so on. You are not tied to chunking through 1 MP, then the next 1MP, and so on. It took a while to get the hang of it, but I was glad I did, since it was more satisfying to have maneuvered the army in this way than in the standard move-fight-exploit sequence. If something happeded, it was because I timed it right, not because I hauled up every tank corp in sight during my move phase. Don't remember any show-stopping errata, but then we may have just made it up as needed, with skills honed by long years of decyphering S&T. :-) By the way, the game uses about 1 & 1/2 maps, has 800 counters, about 600 of them combat units. Most units are two step, with a few Soviet and most German armor units having an "evil twin" second counter. The game broke the mold for east front games, and I think it is a good buy. Maybe I'll try it out again soon too, if I ever finish up this game of Hube's Pocket. I'd recommend it, if you don't mind spending a little bit of time to learn how it works. Then agian, like any self respecting Eastfront game, it takes 30 hours to finish the campaign, so if you blow a couple hours practice at the start, you won't even notice. David Newport dnewport@juno.com From: "David E. Newport" Subject: Re: Trial of Strength >what is the opinion on balance in this game? >perry Having played the game several times, I think the balance is weighted toward whichever side is doing the attacking unitl the defender has gained experience with the system. Germans, Soviets, same problems if they defend. Once the defending player gets it figured out, the balance problems disaappear. Takes a little time to get the hang of it, though. David Newport dnewport@juno.com