I've finished Wave of Terror.


Originally I only planned to play 3~5 turns. I ended up getting very
involved with the game, and went until 12, when it was pretty obvious how
the game would end. Allied Victory.


There's actually not a lot of "Bulge" chrome in this game. It consists of a
rolling for weather on most turns. Clear skies are bad for the German, his
opponent gets 8 P-47 counters to interdict roads with, or for getting a
column shift in combat. Worse, he can not use "column movement" which double
MP's if you start and end movement out of enemy ZOC's. This really slows
down German reinforcements, and if it happens early (as it did in my game),
can put the offensive far behind schedule.


Another is the supply table the German rolls on most turns. It can place a
random German unit or two OOS. Being OOS in this game restricts movement,
and halves attack factors. It happened twice that German units on the point
of attack were placed OOS. This gave weak Allied units a free pass, and
allowed them to be reinforced.


Bridges may only be blown the moment an enemy enters of the abutment hexes.
It happens on a roll of 6, unless an ENG unit is close, it which case it can
be 5 or 6. Bridges may be rebuilt, but you have to control both end to do
so. KG Peiper may not rebuild bridges.


The stacking limit is 4 battalion size units. Artillery take a full hex.
Stacking limits are in effect at all times.


The system is rather simple, find combat odds, roll on the CRT. Artillery
units add a die roll to the combat strength. They also either move, or shoot
in a turn, not both. The CRT gives step losses, with all units having two
steps. All odds from 1:1 up give at least one step loss to each side. Less
than 1:1 gives a 50% chance of the attacker ONLY taking a step loss. So you
work very hard to get up to 1:1. You may also only attack with units of one
division at a time. So if a Panzer unit has the 30th and 1st on each side,
you must make TWO attacks, not one on that Panzer. This gives you great
incentive to keep units together.


I mostly played this to test out my counter sleds in a large game. They
performed quite well, and I never ran out of sleds (I have 50) but I did get
close. I imagine 100 would suffice for almost any size game.


I never really appreciated the appeal of a bulge level game. I do now. You
do get a much finer feel for deploying a division. While the German
penetration in my game never approached historical levels, the early day
turn and KG Peiper's habit of seeing bridges blow in it's face accounted for
that. A proper Bulge would be an impressive sight at Bn level.


Regards, Pat
pcollins@ivwnet.com
Last Played: Operation Michael, Wave of Terror, GWAS 1898