From: Darren Reid Subject: [wargame-creators] Wargame for your young'uns...and fun for you, too! Hi all! I was at the local Zellers, and what do I see while browsing the Game Boy Advance section: "Advance Wars", a cutesy looking turn-based wargame. It's made by Nintendo instead of the usual third-party suspects, and that's always a sign of quality....so naturally I had to buy it "for my son", who's six. The short of it: it's really a classic little game, along the same vein as The Perfect General and other "simple" computer wargames. It has excellent tutorials, which (to my utter amazement) my son is playing through with great gusto! He's declared it "the best gameboy game *ever*!" If you are a dad looking to bring a child into the fold, or an uncle/grandfather needing to find a cool gift for a GBA-weilding relative, this is a gem of a Christmas present. The lowdown: Turn based. Square grid, ala "Empire". Economics, as captured cities add to your "War Funds", used for purchasing units. Units have HP, take partial damage in combat, and can be repaired in cities. Supply! Ffuel and ammo is accounted for, and you can resupply at cities or via transport units. Transports carry infinite supplies. naval units resupply at ports, air units at airports. Transport units can also carry other units, natch. Direct and indirect fire. You can combine identical unit types to turn two weakened units into a strong one. You can win via HQ capture or Enemy Rout (destroy all enemy units), or "White Flag" in multiplayer mode. Up to four players, "hotseat" or link cable. Different enemy CO's. Map editor! You can even trade maps over the link cable. Fog of War: optional, in some scenarios. Great tutorials. "Pre-deployed" or manual set-up multiplayer maps. Weather:Clear, Snow,Rain, or Random. Variable number of turns and victory conditions (like # of bases to capture) for multiplayer. The unit list: Ground Units: Infantry Mechanized Infantry Recon Tank Medium Tank APC Mobile Artillery Rocket Launcher Anti-Air Missile Air Units: Fighter Bomber Battle Copter Transport Copter Naval Units: Battle Ship Cruiser Lander Sub Unfortunately, there don't appear to be any aircraft carriers :) Terrain types: HQ Bases Airports Ports Cities Roads Plains Woods Mountains Rivers Bridges Seas Shoals Reefs There are movement costs and defensive coverage ratings for all of the above terrain types, of course. The graphics are cute, but not "Mario"...just cartoony, and developed so as to be differentiated on the GBA display. Unlike many GBA games, this one features a palette that makes it appear fairly "bright"; many GBA games are criticized as being too dark, so this is definitely a good thing (at least for Dad's old eyes). The tutorials are *very* good, and there's lots of them. I think it has 100 built-in maps, and you can make your own. It features battle animations, but you can turn them off if you wish. The kicker: you can carry it in your pocket. Once again, I highly recommend this. My son, Elric, has been playing through the tutorial battles with me egging him on and giving advice over his shoulder. I knew I had done the right thing buying this game when I got called away to the phone at the start of one scenario. I was 20 minutes on the phone, and expected him to be sitting there waiting for my return; hah! When I got back, he was wrapping up the battle by surrounding the last weakened enemy Artillery unit with his entire combined-arms forces before delivering the coup de grace! Tonight, he faced a nasty Medium tank for the first time: he was "supposed" to win that battle by using his artillery against it, but lost that unit in an ill-fated blitzkreig attempt at the first (ah, the impetuity of youth). I counseled him to "not worry, you can try this scenario over again." Again, hah! His Infantry couln't scratch the paint on the Md Tank, but he hit upon the idea of feeding the infantry to the tank as bait while doing an end-run with a Mech unit (all the while his father saying "I don't think you can win this one) and, in a real nail-biter, capturing the HQ after the evil tank behemoth had eaten every other unit in sight and was just trundling over to snack on that last, lone freindly! That's *my son*, dammit!!!!! He's very excited about making a map to battle his grandfather on (Grampy lives by Empire, Firezone, etc). -Darren <- one proud Daddy P.S. Maybe someone could forward this to the grognards list, I think they'd be interested. There may be no cardboard chits in sight, but I can think of no better way to ensure that I will eventually get to play DAK with my son than something like this. --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). 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