SEVEN SEAS TO VICTORY (An XTR ziplock game) ============================================ Seven Seas to Victory is a very fun game. If you have ever played "Victory at Midway" (Command #14) it is very similar in mechanics, though not in scope. Basically it is a huge running carrier battle, with lots of action and destruction. In addition to carrier battles there are surface actions on a titanic scale, and amphibious landings with land battles. I reviewed this game in Paper Wars #17 and gave it a high recommendation. Combat is resolved in Ben Knight-like fashion, rolling ten-sided dice to inflict step losses on the enemy; two-step units roll two dice, one-steppers roll one. The hit numbers are right on the counters so there are no charts or tables to fool with. It plays very fast and is suspenseful. There are fighters, torpedo bombers, dive bombers, heavy bombers, jet fighters and bombers, a rocket fighter, super-carriers and super-battleships, cruiser flotillas, regular BB's and CV's, the GD regiment, U.S. airborne, huge Japanese carrier fleets, Italian and Vichy French troops and ships, Brazilian ships, British battlewagons, land-based air for both sides, and endless mayhem and fun. I can't recommend this game highly enough to those who like games more than simulations. For those in the dark, this is an alternate-history game about the pincer invasion of Panama by the Germans and Japanese in 1945, and the U.S. and Allied defense. The U.S. land-based air counters are messed up (too hard to read); XTR printed redone counters that are much better, which are available for the asking. The game started shipping with these replacements after a certain point, so the game on the shelf may have them. The replacement counters are on a little separate strip from the main countersheets so a quick examination of the ziplock's contents should tell you whether they are there. There is a small amount of errata for the game; they are really rules changes more than errata, and the game plays fine without them in any case. The counters, BTW, are really gorgeous, especially the planes. This is the best-looking XTR game I have seen since Cortes. "Gary J. Robinson" ------------------------------------------------------------------ SS2V uses the same system as Victory at Midway (the best simple carrier game around), with minor modifications. For example, there are no small ships in the game - escorts have been abstracted out (or simply left out?) completely. Surface combat is held in two phases, with battleships getting to fire first (and the defender still fires first in naval combat - this already was the most stupid rule in VaM). Strikes always find their target, and radar plays a strong role at night (too much so). Most land units can't move once they're on land (which is appropriate given the time and distances covered), so you need ot plan your land battles carefully. Any amphibious assault is apt to be costly, as the land units (which are responsible for coastal defense here) always get a shot at the unloading transports. The unit mix is probably the most fascinating part of the game (from the crazy idea of having only jet planes (fighters and bombers) on the German carriers to the US P-80s, or the various wild projects of the war that never saw the light of day, like the Montana BB's). It also presents each side with completely different challenges (the Japanese with the most carriers, the US with the advantage of inner lines, lots of tough land-based air, but many slow BB's, the Germans and Italians with good but few and short-ranged carrier planes - in fact, these are probably what is uppermost in both side's minds through the game. I've seen a US player refusing to attack European ships throughout 90% of the game after an initial attack was swept from the sky, but if the European player is not careful with his task force deployments, they will be overwhelmed piecemeal). The counters are extremely colorful, but for an alternate history game I can accept that, it helps in finding the exotics that one likes to get a look at (like Franco's heavy cruiser Canarias, or the Brazilians on the US side). Makes them a bit hard to read, though. As a game, it usually ends up as an absolute slugfest, crews never get tired, and ships never run out of ammunition. Surface battles play a major role since there are so many battleships around. It's extremely tense, each side has its own problems to deal with. The overall feel, considering the amount of action, is one of three historical engagements packed into one game (which is, in a way, the situation in the game). Great fun, highly recommended. "Markus Stumptner"