GLOBAL WAR: THE FINISHED PRODUCT by John Fernades, published in Fire & Movement, Nr. 4 Nov/Dec 1976 (C) Baron Publishing Co. In the spring of 1975 a half-dozen intrepid playtesters and one harried and hounded developer got down to the mind-breaking labor of finishing the game Global War. By 'finishing' I mean, of course, the complete and exhausting playtesting process we had all gone through so many times before. The playtest group for this game included some really dedicated gamers. They were the kind of people who would do things like discuss the game at home and look up and research those aspects of the game they did not agree with so that their criticisms could be based on facts and not just personal feelings. So what happened to Global War? Well, I'm not going to go into a prolonged post-mortem over an effort that was largely successful. Allow me simply to say that our throats were cut by a production schedule that was completely unrealistic for a production of this magnitude. In spite of the shortcomings of the game I am still an avid fan - of course I don't play by the standard rules! So others might share the fun, I herein present the final clarifications for those few muddy points which slipped into an other wise marvelous game system. The following corrections are listed to correspond as closely as possible to the rules outline used in the game: 22.3 Land CRT: Use Errata Sheet CRT (July, 1975) 4.2 Sequence Outline: Insert, at the very beginning, before the first Axis naval phase, a 'Maintenance and Resource Allocation Phase.' (Explained below; 18.10) 5.66 overrun: (insert) 'Overrunning units must undergo the required counterattack in spite of the fact that overrunning is a function of movement and not combat.' 7.36 Overstacking If the number of strength points in a given hex exceeds the legal limit at the end of a given movement phase, the phasing player removes the counters of his choice to reestablish this limit. (This rule is important in Russia, as it allows the Russians to destroy unwanted fortification units later in the game which, due to the stacking rules limit the ability to counterattack the Germans.) 8.46 Counterattack: After each attack has been completed, the surviving defenders are allowed to counterattack one stack of the attacking force. This counterattack always takes place whether there are any survivors or not. If no defending units are left, the attack is at +0 superiority. (This reflects the regular attrition which would occur as a result of large scale campaigns) Example: 16 Axis strength points attack 10 Russian points at +6. The Axis are in 2 stacks (10 and 6). The result is a die roll of 4 calling for a Russian loss of 4 strength points. Before retreating, the Russians now counterattack at +0 one of the two attacking stacks. If the superiority had been +5, instead of +6 with 2 stacks (10 and 5 respectively), the surviving Russians would have counterattacked the smaller Axis stack at + 1 The Axis player in this instance would choose what points would be removed from his stack by the counterattack, however the Russian player gets to decide which stack to counterattack. (This forces the attacker to form mixed stacks to prevent losses of mechanized units to counterattacks.) 8.73 The Stand Fast Order: After all movement is complete and all land attacks have been allocated, the defender may designate which of his defending stacks have received orders to 'Hold out at all costs.' The use of this rule has special results: A. Whatever losses the defender receives according to the land CRT are increased by one. B. Even if all defending units are destroyed, the attacker may not advance after combat. C. Any surviving units are not required to retreat. The issuance of this kind of order is a matter of lunacy or desperation. As such, it may be used only under the following restrictions: 1. It may not be used in 'Small Island' operations. 2. No nation may use this rule until they have been involved in actual land combat for a minimum of three full turns. 3. Units destroyed due to the issuance of the order may not be rebuilt. (They have been annihilated obeying the order.) D. This rule does not apply to overruns. 11.0 Neutrality General Rule: The Allies may violate neutrals. However, the violation of a neutral country has the effect of negating one violator production or supply center for victory purposes and turns it over to the opposing player (for victory purposes only). The Axis may still violate Neutrals without penalty. It is advised that the Allied player seriously consider any violation of neutrals as this will seriously hamper his winning of the game! Also, the Allied player must occupy this violated nation with at least one land strength point at all times. If for some reason he should fail to do this, the nation reverts to pro-Axis nation status. If he again enters its territory he must again pay the violation penalty. 12.14 Surface movement: Commonwealth units may remain at sea at the end of a naval movement phase if they are stacked with a U.S. unit. 12.62 [Include 15.0 under exceptions.] 15.0 Naval combat: General Rule. Procedure: 1. During the Naval Movement and Combat Phase, the Phasing Player moves his units adjacent to the non-phasing Player's units. The attacker then announces his intent to attack the opposing stack with Carriers and ASW only. The defender then has the option to retreat before combat and suffers a Transit attack and may not be attacked again that phase. However, if the defending force decides to receive the attack without retreating, the Air attack proceeds and the engagement enters its Second Segment. The Second Segment begins by the attacking player announcing his intention to 'close-in' for a gunnery exchange. The defender once again has the option to retreat before combat and receive a Transit Attack. If he refuses, the attacking stack enters the same hex with him and may attack with all units (including Surf A and ASW units) at his disposal within range requirements. The side with the greatest total losses accrued during both segments of the engagement must now retreat and suffers no transit attack. (It is important to note that the act of closing-in to gunnery range is considered movement through a zone of control and the advancing stack may undergo a transit attack by defending carriers and ASW while in the act of closing-in.) This naval combat system is radically different from the one published in the game and from the one published in the errata. It was devised by me and submitted for study too late to be considered as the rules were already being printed! Please Note: Surf B units now only control the hex they are in when they are at sea (or in port). 16.00 Naval supply; Small Islands: This section is not really where this rule belongs, but it is important to keep this in mind when you are fighting naval battles prior to invading small islands. No more than 6 strength points of fortification markers may exist on a Small Island Hex (ignore Supply Rules). Any additional units must be supplied by Sea in the normal manner. 18.00 Production 18.10 Maintenance and Resource Allocation: At the very beginning of each player's turn it must be ascertained how he will allocate his available resources to the maintenance of his existing units. This maintenance capacity is equal to the previous turn's production capacity. (Or, on the first turn, to a nation's total productive capacity.) A player may only use those units which may be maintained. All units in excess of the nation's maintenance capacity may neither move nor attack during the course of the ensuing player turn. They may, however, defend normally. Procedure: After ascertaining his maintenance resources for a given turn, the phasing player then allocates them to his fighting forces as follows: Infantry - 0 Mech - 1 per strength point LRB - 1 per strength point SS - 1 for 2 strength points ASW - 1 for 2 strength points Surf A - 3 per strength point Surf B - 2 per strength point Example: On game turn one, the Axis player has a total of fifteen maintenance points. He allocates these to maintain twelve Mech points, one LRB point and three SS points. Which means that the German Surface fleet cannot put to sea until turn two (or later). Units which cannot be maintained are turned face down on the board. They can be neither moved nor may they attack during the ensuing turn. They may defend normally, but not counterattack. Special Rules: Russian Neutrality. The Soviets may enter the war on a limited basis (peace time production) in the event of the following: 1. German violation of Swedish Neutrality. 2. German violation of Turkish Neutrality. 3. The taking of Suez by the Axis. 4. The German invasion of Britain. Once Soviet territory is violated Russia goes to full wartime status. Russia may also go over to full war after any Axis turn in which total Soviet losses exceed 12 strength points (land). Russia may not build forts while in limited war. The U.S. may enter the war on a limited basis with the following conditions: 1. Axis in Gibraltar. 2. Axis in Suez. 3. Turkey Violated. These conditions place the U.S. at war with Germany and Italy only. U.S. units in the Pacific portion of the map are left inactive. The U.S. enters limited war with Japan if Siberia is violated. This releases all Pacific units to full active status. The U.S. goes to full wartime production as soon as ten U.S. land, air, or sea combat units are destroyed as a result of combat (Cumulative Total). JUST ANOTHER VARIANT? 'Alright!' You're going to say, 'So it's just another variant!' However, it's not another variant. There are many reasons for designing a conflict simulation. There are also several approaches to the production of one. One of them is not the proliferation of questions about a given historical period. If anything, a conflict simulation should offer a few answers to questions the owner may have concerning the rationale behind one action or another. This is where, I think, Global War found its greatest failure. The game system generated more questions than it answered. This is not uncommon with a new game system, except that playing it a few times usually makes these questions clear and their answers manifest. This is why I shall now go into an explanation of why these changes should be entered into the rules to Global War from both an historical and a play standpoint. 1. Why a Maintenance and Resource allocation phase? While playing the game, it should occur to you that in spite of the slow start the production schedule gets off to, the war starts with quite a bang. All Germany's Mechanized forces are up to snuff. (This is in spite of the enormous losses suffered to breakdowns in Poland and the complete overhaul of the Panzer organization after this campaign.) The German High Seas Fleet busts out into the Atlantic to square off with the British, and bombers fill the sky over London. All at the same time! It should be obvious to any student of history that the Germans had no idea the war was going to be as enormous as it was. Also their economy was simply not up to the strain of building new weapons and maintaining huge inventories of the existing ones in first class fighting trim. Up until January of 1941 it was simply a matter of, 'Does the fleet put to sea? Or do the planes and tanks get to use the oil?' The British are in an even worse position. Much of the Grand Fleet was empty ships with skeleton crews. When the war did break out, reserve officers were called out of retirement, seamen were drafted and naval stores were stockpiled. Even after all these efforts, two years passed before the British Navy reached peak wartime strength. The unpreparedness of the U.S. economy is legendary. What all this means in game terms is that the War, as a game, starts off a little more hesitantly. The Germans must decide whether the navy or the bomber wing should get fuel and technician man/hour priority. The Japanese must wait as long as they can before lashing out at the U.S. The Italians are woefully unprepared to enter the war. The British fleet slowly emerges from mothballs and lethargy, and the whole picture is more historically flavorful forces Of course, as the war progresses, this item becomes less important. However, as you get to the middle years, you find that you must again recheck your resources to be sure you have sufficient maintenance facilities to handle that new aircraft carrier. And, of course, as the end approaches, the Axis finds it more and more difficult to wage a modern war with insufficient resources. 2. Why a land counterattack rule? At the very beginning of the war the Germans seem to win all the battles, while at the end they seem to lose them all. This, of course, isn't historically correct. What the land counterattack rules shows is the constant wearing down of an attacking force by attrition. If a defending force is lucky enough to win a series of defensive tactical victories, he can follow up with an overall counterattack and regain considerable lost territory. 3. And while we're on counterattacks, I should explain the reason for the rule about destroying excess units. The Soviets, you see, build as many forts as they possibly can early in the war. Then, when the time comes to try to take back what has been lost, they cannot mass a superior force against the Germans because space is taken by fort counters that cannot be moved out of the way. Using this rule, the Soviets can move ten strength points into a given hex during the friendly movement phase and remove those excess fort counters he doesn't need and go to the combat phase normally. 4. The Stand Fast order isn't really as loony as it sounds. The Soviets most certainly should use it when the Germans are on the verge of capturing a production hex, and the Germans should use it in the event of an early Russian counterattack. (Hitler's famous Stand Fast order outside Moscow in 1941 wasn't as foolish as historians have made it out to be.) The only thing you have to keep in mind is whether you can afford the losses you are going to get. 5. The existing Neutrality rule forces the Allies to be a little more moral than they really were. After all, it was only a matter of timing that put German troops in Norway before the British. This new rule allows the Allies to behave more like a participant in a World War, in which military necessity may sometimes override political considerations. But it is an action that should never by taken lightly. 6. The newer Naval movement and combat system was designed from the belief that prior to the widespread use of modern radar equipment, the distance at which fleets of ships could effectively deal with one another was surprisingly short. It is even suggested that the following variation be added for a little more authenticity in flavor without too much dirt being added: When the attacking fleet moves adjacent to the defending one, a die is rolled. A result of one or two means that the defending fleet is spotted and combat continues. A roll of three or more means the opposing fleet has been missed and may not be attacked in any way. The same thing goes for transit attacks. You may alter this by making it easier to spot a fleet based upon the number of units searching. The searching fleet may close-in in the hope of spotting the fleet on the second attempt. If the fleet is spotted while in the same hex, combat immediately proceeds to the second segment. (The opposing fleets are considered to have made visual contact.) You should add to this a rule that states that a fleet can attempt to spot another as long as it has sufficient movement points to move around and through it. This rule complicates things a little, but adds a lot to the uncertainty of naval actions. After all, try reading accounts of the battle of the Coral Sea and Midway. They are reminiscent of blind men stumbling around in the dark with clubs in the hope of possibly coming upon one another, and then being able to do decisive damage. It would be advisable to play this variation with your fleet markers turned upside down to disguise the disposition of your naval strength and the whereabouts of your carriers. 7. The rules concerning Russian and U.S. neutrality are self evident. The Germans can no longer leave the Russian border unguarded while they romp through Spain, North Africa and Turkey. IN CONCLUSION: Of course there will still be some points of contention among players concerning the application of one rule or another. But I am confident that with the use of a little logic and a working knowledge of the historical period, the players should now have little trouble playing Global War in quite an exciting and rewarding manner. It is, after all, an enormously entertaining game, and a deeply engrossing mental exercise. It has my vote as one of the five best all time products produced by SPI and it would be sad if the playing public doesn't get a chance to view it in the most flattering light possible.