Strategy

Quick Hit: Multi-Man Publishers, the caretakers of ASL since Avalon Hill's demise in 1999, deserve a great deal of praise for this introduction to the world of ASL.

As I relax here in my all-encompassing black leather swivel chair, absentmindedly petting one of my cats and spitefully flicking large glowing buttons on the central console, I cast my eye over the massive illuminated map on the wall ahead of me---the one with all the blinking lights showing the major cities of the world---and I think about how best to open this review.

The '70's and '80's saw a huge increase in the number of boardgamers, and thanks to companies like Avalon Hill, wargaming became a mainstream hobby in the US and Europe. Boardgames evolved into ever more complex wargames that dealt with nearly every conflict and war imaginable. From Robert E. Lee's famous offensive at Gettysburg to little-known actions on the Eastern Front in World War II, you could easily find a board-based wargame to cover most any period with a little searching at your local hobby store.

The Civilization series have consistently been the benchmark for high quality turn-based strategy games over the last ten years. The creator, Sid Meier, has devised a deep and immersive gameworld in which players really feel their decisions effect the course of history. For those who may not be familiar with the basics, Civilization III's basic premise is that you are are leader of one of 16 separate races of humans. You start off with only a few basic units in the year 4000 B.C. You goal is to guide your civilization through thousands of years of progress, strife, famine, and exploration.

Few topics lend themselves to wargame simulation like the massive battles fought between the Germans and Soviets on the eastern front during the Second World War. Many periods of history have important and interesting battles worthy of a gamer's attention, but none can match this epic struggle in terms of sheer size, variety and the utterly viscous nature of the fighting. It's no wonder the Ostfront has long been a favorite period among hardcore wargamers. Contrary to popular belief the fighting didn't die out on the eastern front after the "turning point" of Stalingrad.