Ben Volmert, Aachen The Days of Decision review makes me hesitate to buy the game. I've seen it once and I was convinced not to spend so much money for so few components. In any case I'm a bit angry at ADG for their pricing and the xth edition policy. I own the 3rd edition of World in Flames, have ordered the 4th edition countersheet and with some hours of work have upgraded the maps by myself. All that, and then we hear about the 'much improved' 5th edition. Thanks!
[MS: It certainly wasn't my intention to dissuade you from purchasing the game but I guess ADG are in a no-win situation on the upgrades. There are few companies offering such good support but then that support comes at a high unit price, compounded by the fact that it comes half way round the world. Fortunately, I am not caught up in the cycle so ask if it is necessary to upgrade to make sure you are using the same system as everyone else or is it because the game isn't playable in the earlier versions? I suspect the latter is not the case, so we may have a self-perpetuating upgrade fetish. Odd, but I get the impression that WiF players tend toward the fanatic.]
Theo Clarke, London The review of Days of Decision fans the flames of my interest. I will probably contact ADG in the new year because I am interested in importing a number of their games if we can pull the retail price below £25 a pop.
[MS: That's good news, and with the Australian Dollar weakening (about time too) it should be made easier for you. If you do pull it off, please let us know - I'm sure there are a lot of Sumo readers who might be tempted to dabble in the ADG range at more reasonable prices. I'd like to get a copy of their Rubout which isn't a bad game at all - it is let down only by the high price.]
Ulrich Blenneman, Hattingen I've only played DoD once and we didn't finish. However, it wasn't much fun. Sure, the game works (although some reactions of countries are downright silly) but it is very slow. You need a lot of time to work out the right option and the bookeeping takes light years. We are currently playing a World in Flames campaign with 6 players; when we've finished it we would like to start a DoD/WiF campaign. Perhaps, when playing DoD again and having campaign rules added, it will be better and more fun. At the moment I wouldn't recommend DoD. In addition I question a political simulation that is heavily based on AJP Taylor's 'Origins of World War II' (which Harry Rowland enthusiastically recommends), a work that received and receives heavy flak from historians all over the world for Taylor's opinions.
Charles Vasey, East Sheen Days of Decision: Well, I was rather amazed by the historical notes which indicate yet another boardgame designer who believes he has got the drop on academic historians. A conspiracy of silence to forget that we forced Hitler to fight by not appeasing him enough. Well, as they say, it is a view. I am also interested by the underlying inevitability of war. One cannot drag things back from the brink yet Hitler was just as worried about war as the allies. Could there have been peace with honour? Perhaps the game should have been called Days of Inevitability.
[MS: This letter followed a telephone conversation of over an hour which has to be one of the high points of last year - so good in fact that I forgot all about Going Live and breakfast on the Saturday morning in question. Charles raised some intriguing points touching on historical research, game design and theory and discussing the many what-ifs of the period and I listened a lot. Ultimately, it raised an angle that I hadn't even considered in the review - inevitability, or historical determinism. With hindsight it seems obvious (so obvious I missed it) but the game does route you through to a war scenario, you just get to use a different road each time. This is rather like the Fighting Fantasy gamebook 'binary tree' where you ultimately get to meet the dragon as long as you survive, though admittedly DoD offers a much freer choice of options and more flavour. I suspect the real reason for the straight- jacket may be to bring DoD to the doorstep of World in Flames but for those of us playing DoD independently, there could easily be other victory conditions and game end triggers. The work involved in designing a game that could route elsewhere would be of a much higher order, but just imagine the possibilities. I'd better lie down now, it is so rare to think this hard these days.]
Charles again... Robin Hood sounds a trifle odd, I always played the Sherriff as a child (but then I thought Ivanhoe a shameless Saxon lie, writes David d'Irving the Norman apologist.)
Theo Clarke, London I share your view of the Robin Hood game even though most of our games club loathe it. Lightweight fun at a reasonable price is my thumbnail opinion.
[MS: I suppose the acid test is that I have played it again as I guessed I would.]
Don Greenwood, Baltimore I recently had occasion to play six of the Hexagame cardgame line and found myself enjoying five of them. The one I couldn't stand, Res Publica, was the favourite of several of the others in our group.
Likewise, I know several 1830 players who contend that it is the only good game we make! These same fellows are ecstatic about games like Die Macher and the latest newspaper game offering from Moskito Spiel. None of these games would make my 'desert island' ten or top hundred for that matter. But that doesn't mean I condemn them as bad games - they are just not the sort that appeal to me. Different strokes for different folks. I just wish more people would remember that there is a wide assortment of tastes to cater to in the world, and just because a game doesn't suit their particular yen doesn't mean it is deserving of verbal abuse or disdain.
[MS: Agreed, but as I am coming to realise, very few people seem to understand this and the larger the Sumo readership gets, the more letters or response I get that direct themselves to criticising my or other reader's views rather than offering constructive comments supporting their, equally tenable, opinion. The situation is aggravated by my sitting here reviewing games. If it isn't clear, the comments I make are a personal view which is straight and unbiased - cripes, I even buy these games with my own cash. That view has utility for the reader if he has tastes similar to mine (he may agree, he may not) or to build up a picture of the game to assist in a purchase decision. I do not intend to preach right or wrong - if I do overstep, kick me hard please.]
Don continues... I'd welcome your comments on the merits of Extrablatt, Moskito's latest offering. I found it a splendid game of strategy - but that doesn't mean I would include it among my favourites. I felt it suffered from TOO MUCH strategy - ie that there were just too many factors known to the player that he should take into consideration and consequently the player feels obligated to sit and ponder his options forever while the others have to sit back and await the outcome. I much prefer a game like Up Front where there are just as many variables but the player is aware of only a few of them at a time and must guess at the best possible course based on percentage plays and current needs, rather than sit by with a calculator and actually be able to work out the best course of action based on existing information. I also disliked the large role that the sequence of play has on the outcome; ie if the player before me makes a mistake or is a poor player it gives me a major advantage over the other players that they can do little about. Lastly, I dislike games wherein I have to sit down with an accountant's pad at the end to determine who won. All that said I found Extrablatt a fascinating bit of design and one that will certainly appeal greatly to some.
[MS: Well, it certainly appealed to me. I do know what you mean about too much information - my normal reaction is to concentrate on the most important aspects and let the rest wash through as it will, but in Extrablatt virtually everything is important. That said, the actual decisions are quite straightforward (though I can see articles being written on layout technique), it is their impact that is heavy and needs thought. I couldn't agree more on lengthy adding up routines, but then I have a downer on bookeeping in any form as witnessed by my comments on Automania and virtually any pre- Nova air combat game or those from the Battleline or Yaquinto stable. There doesn't seem to be any other way of determining victory in Extrablatt though.]
Mick Uhl, Crofton Three friends and I played Extrablatt last weekend. It received one very enthusiastic and two lukewarm responses. The fourth party apparently had no opinion. Mine was one of the two lukewarm feelings. There didn't appear to be that many choices of play available to rate it a 'classic'. For the most part, it was pick a subject (out of the five available), decide how much copy to allot to the story and finally fit it in your newspaper. I recognise that this is an oversimplification but any subtleties of play didn't jump into my waterlogged brain in this session. Since we're definitely going to play again, my opinion may change dramatically by the end of the month.
[MS: Just in case you have the same problem we did, I have taken the liberty of sending you the Webley set of Extrablatt rules which, for us, really changed the game to what it is obviously designed as rather than an interpretation. Hope you enjoy it more next time.]
Derick Green, Colchester I hope you don't mind me making a suggestion but how about a readers game page or two in Sumo, perhaps with the stipulation that the game rules will take up one side of A4 and boards etc can easily be made by subscribers.
[MS: Mmmm. On balance, I'd have to say no. In general, I doubt you'd get a game worth doing into a few pages (rules alone are likely to be longer) and it gives me a lot of problems in trying to reduce the pagecount of the magazine which continues to bloat uncontrollably. It could be done as inserts, but as I am now going to another printer that is more hassle for him, not me. What I'd rather do, if you have a workable game, is to run a page of contact names and list what you are selling. If you are willing to do it for nothing for Sumo, you could sell it for cost of photocopying or a little more. With Lionel Games, Charles Vasey and others putting out gamekits, Sumo could become something of a central notice board for showing off what is out there.]
Paul Jefferies, Tunbridge Wells Had much interest shown in DIY Homas? I wonder how many people will just keep on hoping that Jumbo will come up with the goods so they won't have to bother? We've started playing it with average dice to counter the dreaded double one and it seems to work OK. I've also finished my 3D track which I'll send a photo of as soon as we get the present film developed. I'm quite pleased with the result.
Theo Clarke, London Paul Jefferies DIY Homas Tour piece is too late now that the game is due for a relaunch at Nuremburg next year. I will wait the few months for a ready made set to come out and stop trying to dream up ways of thieving Richard Clyne's copy.
[MS: Well, I have heard this rumour for the last two years without sight of even a prototype, so we shall see if it finally happens. Presumably Jumbo are still going to issue it? Either way, I think the original rules may still have some value as the new version is bound to be 'improved' and over twenty people are working on their DIY sets, so perhaps it wasn't too late after all. A 3D Homas track boggles the mind - I await the photos with interest.]
Dave Farquhar, Hook Commenting on the content of your magazine, I was relieved to find that I am not alone in suffering from plastic wrapperitis - that desperate desire to rip open the packaging on a game, look at the bits, read the rules, set it up and put it away again.
[MS: Really, you go that far?]
Dave continues... One article that would be useful is 'How to convince your wife that you are acting reasonably'. My wife is, on the whole, fairly understanding. She only makes the odd comment like 'Why do you need another game when you have 200 already. Oh, and by the way, have you played the last one yet?' Some guidance as to excuses that might be acceptable would be useful.
The one that has me completely stumped at present is: If I buy Supergang, how do I explain away the fact that I have spent nearly £40 on a game, the major component of which is a plastic dart gun? The 'Sumo says it's brilliant' ploy failed miserably, and that was after I revealed the price, but not the contents.
In fact I felt so guilty that I came away from SDVM with Doolittle & Waite instead as it was only £6... and my wife hated it. Mind you, she was in labour when we played it. Any advice would be welcome.
[MS: Excellent stuff. Fortunately, as you will have spotted, I have only my conscience to wrestle with, not someone else's. Comments welcome from those buying the likes of Supergang instead of daft stuff like new curtains.]
Dave... Is it possible to provide names and addresses of subscribers? The reason I ask is that I should like to get in touch with any local gamers, and thought this could be a good way to do it. I realise though that the Data Protection Act is likely to be a problem.
[MS: I don't intend to make subscriber's addresses available but there is nothing stopping anyone asking to have theirs printed - people can then feel free to get in touch rather than have, as I've had in the past, sundry oddbods turning up on the doorstep unannounced. Dave (who is clearly not an oddbod, though I'd give the wife a wide berth) is at 10 Vetch Field, Hook, Hants RG27 9SL if anyone is interested.]
Matthew Hayes, Chiswick In July I shall be setting up a bulletin board, to be called '3D6', covering boardgames, roleplaying games, war games etc. If any of your readers feel moved to contribute, I shall be grateful for any short articles (200 to 500 words) as they will save me from writing it all myself. Articles submitted on disk will be rewarded with PD software (PC or ST only, I'm afraid). I don't know how you feel Mike about using 3D6 as a medium for the rules bank?
[MS: Keen to support anything that helps me shift the admin elsewhere, but apart from a few of John Webley's rulesets the bank is stored entirely on paper, and in pretty ropey typestyles in the main - I doubt I could scan more than 30% of the sets. The thought of downloading the latest rules does appeal, but I guess we are a long way technologically from that ideal state. I think you might be surprised to find how few gamers have even a modem, but good luck with the project anyway. Matthew is at 24 Crofton Ave, Chiswick, London W4 3EW.]
Alan Moon, Lancaster NH The first White Wind newsletter is due out soon. It will have the fourth game for Fishy, an Elfengold variant, news about upcoming games, questions and answers and so on. We should know by then what games we'll be publishing next year (1992).
Be advised that a company over here has begun to distribute the HABA games and Bob Scherer-Hoock is getting the rules to Henne Berta, Timberland and two others.
[MS: Great, send them over when you can please. I'm itching to use those eggs and baskets. Blast, no link at all to high game prices....]
Theo Clarke, London Anyone charging more than £20 for Vendetta is ripping off their customers, but this is unlikely to be intentional. The problem with a lot of these imports and specialist games is that someone is buying them at trade price in Germany, shipping them to the UK and distributing them to the shops at the retail price. This makes the prices go mad when the retailer adds his usual mark up. What we need is more UK distributors of non-UK games who buy the games at distributor rates so that they can supply the shops at the trade rate. Consider a game that costs £8 from the manufacturer. The distributor charges £12 to the retailer who charges the customer £18. If the retailer acts as an importer and national distributor, however, the customer at the high street shop will have to pay £27.
John Webley, Salzgitter Bad The long games reviews are interesting but nothing there that I will rush out and buy. Vendetta I have had since the spring and rate quite highly, although after five or six games I am still not sure if there is any skill involved in winning. [MS: Yes, it does have that odd quality.] I don't find the price that high, £12 or so here, a bit more than a CD. At £20 to £25 though he says, after seeing the price at the top of the review, it is a rip-off. My big grouse with it though, is that there don't seem to be enough cubes in some colours and people run out.
Merfyn Lewis, Anglesey Vendetta is quite a clever little game and one which our group enjoys but I would agree it is overpriced for what you get in the box. The combat system is clever without the use of dice or tables which I strongly dislike. I very rarely play wargames because of these reasons except the odd game of Shogun, Targui, Risk, Britannia or Supremacy. Regarding the letters about the latter I find it a slow game with constant calculations to be made about payment for armies, navies etc. Nevertheless, we all enjoy it, but you have to be in the mood for it. I like it when it gets to the middle game where the superpowers have a couple of nukes as a threat or deterrent. This is when it gets exciting and when you can make alliances, especially when you have laser stars and others don't.
Stuart Dagger, Aberdeen The Aberdeen view on Supremacy is the same as Mark Buckley's: the game just doesn't work. Like him, we realise that someone, somewhere must like it but can't understand why. Among my group it is the unanimous choice as the worst game we have ever tried to play - a turkey against which others are judged.
Andy Daglish, Cheadle Can I just say that Up Front and ASL are the best designs in all respects save perhaps the difficulty of learning the rules solo? Is it a co-incidence that they deal with the same subject? I have thought for a while that an article comparing both systems would show how the same thing can be portrayed in different or even opposite ways. Both systems are worth more than their price both as games and military history - like New World and Conquistador.
[MS: You write it, I'll look it over. Check out the Chaos Gaming piece this issue for a good angle on design approaches.]
Marcus Watney, Oxford Could you please give some coverage to Gulf Crisis II being staged in Farnborough on Sunday March 1st?
[MS: I'd have thought one Gulf Crisis enough for anybody, but yes I'll give you a plug. GC II is a megagame tackling all levels of the Gulf War and it needs players, organisers, umpires, teaboys, medics and so on. If you are interested give Marcus a ring on 0865 66141 pretty damn sharpish and make sure you don't get dumped with the Iraqis.]
Terry and June Goodchild, Lowestoft How dare he? 'One man and his dog type company' indeed! (Nik Hollliday, Sumo 6). In these days of sexual equality, equal opportunities etc, let's get it right - 'One man and his bitch' would be more accurate!
[MS: Er, yes. I am not sure this has advanced the cause of the hard working Mrs Goodchild one iota. Still no logical link to the next topic....]
John Webley, Salzgitter Bad Essen report: I am not sure whether the attendance was down, the crucial element for me was the extra hall, which left some spare space in the first two. Probably not much extra in terms of the whole, but enough to leave some space for gaming. I cannot believe that we were both there again for 4 days and yet only saw each other once. We seem to have very different Essens each year. I did get to meet Alan Moon who was very helpful over the Pony Express translation, a very nice fellow.
[MS: My mistake on the attendance, which was slightly up. What was down was crowd density; I simply didn't count the halls to realise why.]
Abacus; they also had Kapt'n Buddle, or something like that but at 90 odd marks I wasnt interested. The new Dicke Kartoffeln takes 6 players, other than that I don't know how they have changed it.
Automania looked lovely but really is a very poor game. A great shame, if he used other people's designs he might make better games, I know that he was looking at Dave Long's pop game, but then if he sells all 1,000 then what does he care.
[MS: Judging by the response to the review and having discussed it with Ian, I think he does care genuinely about the game, but I agree on the choice. I haven't played the pop game but I understand John Harrington's Breaking Away and Alan Parr's Szalonagar were in the frame as well, either of which would have been an improvement on Automania as sold.]
Extrablatt is great, cannot be too highly recommended, translation with this. Any suggestions for a better way to translate ZeitungEnte greatly appreciated.
[MS: Mike Clifford termed it a 'spiked' story and although that is one that doesn't actually make the paper, it seemed to fit well enough. We resorted to that or a 'turkey' rather than a duck, which as you say, loses something in the translation.]
Showdown comes from Grendal Games, it is a game about a shootout in a Western town. The shooter figures are bases with poles sticking up, they first move around the town collecting washers,(townsfolk). Then, once all the washers have been collected the gunfighters slug it out. A family game I reckon since the fights are simple dice rolls, but it looks nice. The hotel game you mentioned got a good write up from Adam, but I am very reluctant to pay so much for anything, maybe they want a translation done.
Bernd Brunnhofer is hoping to have a new game out for Nurnberg, but also looked pretty shell-shocked. It is very nice to see a small company winning Spiel des Jahres, but it's a hell of a lot more difficult for them to take advantage of it than say Ravensburger.
Ernst & Monika Knauth, Affalterbach Of the new games at Essen we played Extrablatt and liked it, even if the final calculation seems a bit complicated the first time. We also played Neolithibum and found it is a beer & pretzels game with some funny moments and only good for six players. UFO (Demand) is a flop, I hope you didn't buy it. What you don't know, because you left early, is that we gave ourselves Die Abtei der wandelden Buecher for out first anniversary. We don't have it now, because they are still making it, and we will get it in February. On Sunday we will play our second Advanced Civilisation, but I know that's not for you. We already say that it's better than the original.
[MS: I am left with only slight envy on Die Abtei now, because I know that I'll get to play it when I go and see the Knauths, he said smugly. I now have Advanced Civilization (Monarch Avalon stock soars) but I am still perplexed. It costs a lot of money for what you get, which seems to be cards, bits and a booklet of variant rules. Not really worth £25 I'd have thought. I must get round to playing it.]
Mike Clifford, Upper Norwood It may be that I am easily pleased,but I don't generally spot what appear to be the obvious glitches in games that the rest of your observant readership does.
Why didn't the manufacturers of both Hacker and ExtraBlatt include English rules? Apart from the headline cards in ExtraBlatt (easily substituted, but not neccessary), there appears to be nothing to stop either being bi-lingual products.
[MS: In fairness, I think that is the intention, at least at Moskito and Abacus. John Webley is doing translations for both and they will come out in time - it is just that they aren't available at launch time which seems fair enough.]
Julian Musgrave should have included the name of each action card (from Robin Hood) somewhere upon the card's surface. Fiddling about trying to remember what did what finally consigned what would otherwise be a decent game to the "that's yer lot" pile.
Dare I mention Automania? I cannot emphasise enough the expectation experienced after shredding the shrink-wrapping from Livingstone Games' second offering. Would the good doctor Ian please suggest which cards to remove in order that we may revel in this flawed masterpiece?
Look out for Tennis Open, a French strategy game with marvellous components(three separate tennis courts, players and special die). The box turns into a stadium, and the overall effect is breathtaking.
[MS: The game isn't at all bad either. I don't suppose any of our entrepreneurs are thinking of importing this one? Mark? Andy? Eamon? Theo?]
Ellis Simpson, Glasgow I enjoyed the reviews in Sumo 6 because they told me exactly the type of things I am looking for in a review. I want somebody to tell me what they think of the game and from what perspective they are viewing it. For example, I would have avoided Xanth like the plague having suspicions of its rip-off potential. Whilst you point out that it is not going to be the game of the century it is at least worthwhile considering.
Theo Clarke, London Xanth looked very interesting when I saw it but I have yet to play the game so cannot comment further. I am surprised to see you write a one page review, however. Does this mean that the game is mediocre, I wonder?
John Webley, Salzgitter Bad Bob Mulholland reviewed Blackbeard at about the same time as you and was even more damning than you [MS:!], but is now going back to it with a view to making some sort of piratical En Garde game from it. There seems to be something there but it is pretty well hidden.
Bob Mulholland, Exeter I was interested to read your review of Blackbeard, having recently bought it myself, and I largely agree with your comments. However, I do feel that with some amendments it can be turned into a reasonable game.
[MS: I hope I didn't give the impression otherwise, but in reviewing games as they appear on the shelves you have to stress when they don't work as sold. Not everyone has time to tweak and, as I said, for £25+ you shouldn't have to work to get it going. But fire away, as I for one would like to play it again....]
For example, the turn sequence - the present rules cause large delays, boring ones for the other players, but they do allow the KCs a chance to capture pirates. Should we change the sequence system to a draw from the cup system, then the speed of the KCs must be correspondingly altered to keep them in the game.
Secondly, the rule about capturing and using prize ships only on a double dice roll should be abandoned and perhaps replaced with the attack roll landing within a margin eg 1-3 of the exact number required. This will allow players a greater chance to get the larger ships and therefore become more able to take on ports and warships.
I could go on but when you pay £25 for a game you shouldn't have to keep altering the rules and when I reviewed the game in Pigbutton I came to a similar conclusion to you and didn't recommend it.
[MS: Bob co-edits Pigbutton, a postal games magazine that I thought had folded ages ago. It hasn't, and I enjoyed the sample issue I received recently despite a disgusting piece of free navel fluff on the cover. And you thought I was weird. Bob reviews boardgames, writes intelligently about RPGs and runs some unusual games by post. He intends to start Blackbeard in the near future so those that have designs on saving the game may wish to participate to see if the postal amendments could assist in face to face play. Pigbutton is available from Clive Palmer, 36 Ravensfield, Barstable East, Basildon, Essex SS14 1UG for 50p an issue.]
John Evans, Edinburgh I agree with your disappointment with 'Blackbeard', though there are two things we did in playing which varied from you; we ruled that players take their player number for the whole game, though you may have done this too as the turn sequence is more difficult than it should be to interpret.
[MS: We played it as a variable position, which I think the rule does indicate if read and re-read carefully. The end result is much the same in terms of waiting for a go.]
Also, a player can activate a pirate or a KC. I wanted this game to be super, it isn't, but I'll wait and see if The General can save it before considering selling it.
I was only lukewarm over Drunter & Druber when we played it; there were some rule problems and game effects which made me feel that development was in order. Master Labyrinth can be annoying if someone sits on the 25 tile and I'm not sure the recipes work out properly - a little too much sheer luck for my taste. I agree with your reservations over Pompeii and I would suggest only playing it if you are in a sort of 'who cares' mood. As it stands, it cannot be taken seriously. For me, the Sherlock Holmes Card Game is also sheer luck, Holmes. Players can simply guess where the villain is, and I have a guilty face.
I don't agree at all with the comments on the length of New World. We can play one game an evening, two on a Sunday, and it is more manageable than Conquistador, especially for the non-wargamer. I think the length is just about perfect and overall it is a very good package; colourful, quite skillful, a good challenge and plenty of game elements.
It was good to see Dune (the game) getting some recognition as a fine game; praise for it is long overdue. We play without the alliance rules and find it far better. Play the game hard: it can stand a thorough workout. After 30-50 playings it is still fresh.
[MS: Indeed. It has just occurred to me to question what happened to the Eon design team? Having knocked out a couple of gems in Cosmic Encounter and Dune as well as the love it or hate it Quirks, they went quiet to my knowledge. Anyone know why? Did they simly fizzle out by way of Runes and Hoax?]
David Wright, Coulsdon Regarding New Orleans Big Band, it sounds closely related to the game 'Haggle' described by Sid Sackson in his book 'A Gamut of Games'.
[MS: Yes, having re-read it, it does. It must be useful to actually be able to cross reference with this efficiency. My brain long ago gave up with the data overload.]
I liked the Discretion article, could someone be persuaded (money, drugs, drinks...) to do a similar one on Al Parlamento?
[MS: As the game sold for a cool £300-odd at the auction, I think the DIY route is the only hope for we mortals. Stuart Dagger would be our man as he has already made up a set I believe. What is your poison Stuart? And while you're at it, you can explain the Essex dig in your Mai 68 review!]
Paul Jefferies, Tunbridge Wells In response to the ravings about the Sherlock Holmes Card Game, I'm not quite sure what all the fuss is about. As the advert says 'It's good, but not that good'. To declare it one of the best card games ever produced is overstating the case as far as I'm concerned. It's no more gripping than a close game of Cribbage in my view. [MS: A vile slur from 'One for his Knob' Jefferies] The system works well, there's a limited amount of bluff, it's quite good fun, nuff said.
Gary Graber, Peoria Conquistador & New World: I enjoy both games - New World seems like a simplified Conquistador. Actually, Conquistador is so long that when we used to play it we played one turn, skipped two, played another, skipped two and so on. Drastic perhaps, but it enabled us to complete it in a reasonable amount of time.
John Evans, Edinburgh I do like Tyranno Ex. I do like Tyranno Ex. Like so many people, I don't like the memorising element but it doesn't detract from Tyranno Ex as a real favourite here. Gonna play it tomorrow.
[MS: Ashamed to say I still haven't played it but, with the success of Extrablatt, you can bet it is now near the top of the stack again. Mark Green was recently trying to get me admit to a list of games I feel guilty about not having played (he was shifting the blame for only having just got round to Scotland Yard) but I think there must be over 100! Speed Circuit is firmly at the top of the list. Oh the shame.]
Wolfgang Luedtke, Duisberg I like Bauernschlau, thus I don't agree with your review. It is an ever exciting game. Each time it's your turn your don't know which counter to reveal. Did your opponent place a white and valuable sheep in your field just to bluff you, hoping you will put it in one of his squares? Or has he just parked a good one for later use? Or is it a black one scoring minus one points when flipped over on your ground? So, what to do? All players will laugh if you give him back his black sheep or if you fetch a black one for yourself. So, there is always laughter. [MS: Not in our game matey - I was close to tears.] Fence building is also no easy task. If somebody goes for a small area you can't afford to have an unfinished wide field. You must always react to the other players' actions. And yes, you are right, in most cases some players won't score because they didn't manage to finish their areas. But that is the challenge. Although neighbours are rivals, they have to co-operate to a certain extent, otherwise both will lose. In my opinion Bauernschlau is one of the best three games of last year (the others are Drunter & Druber and Donnerwetter). Please, try it again.
[MS: I can't I'm afraid, I've sold it to that nice Mr Jefferies who is converting it into a 3D, forty acre farm with real grass and combined harvesters. In fairness, your comments confirm that we were playing it correctly so I am happy enough that my views were well founded. It simply didn't appeal to me, but I see your point. While I have heard of Donnerwetter, I have not heard anyone say that it is a good game (or even anything at all about it actually). Information or a review anyone?]
Merfyn Lewis, Anglesey Automania I have bought and played a couple of times. I enjoy it (I enjoy most games, that's my trouble) but the cards are rather disappointing. I will remove the ones which penalize the leader to move back two spaces. It took six rounds for cars to reach the finish in both games. I don't know if this type of game will hit the family market as there is too much bookeeping in my opinion. This does not affect me liking the game though.
Derick Green, Colchester Regards McMulti, although I believe this a game that deserves praise, I feel the problems caused by a lack of doubles is a weakness in the game. I have now played this game a couple of dozen times and have played three games where a low number of doubles thrown have slowed down the game considerably. I would say the chances of throwing no doubles is obviously extremely remote but because the game relies so heavily on the roll of the dice the lack of doubles is a problem.
Nigel King, Leicester I was surprised by the comments on McMulti. Like most people I agree that it is a great game. However, in the past I have played in two games where the unfortunate lack of doubles slowed the play of the game right down causing a glut in oil and slump in prices which consequently makes profit margins low. Also there is less opportunity to buy and sell assets for profit as the economic climate is at a standstill. Even so, the games were still finished albeit after a longer game. The chances of this occurring are quite remote and I would not blame the game system because of this rare situation.
John Webley, Salzgitter Bad We tried the Sherlock Holmes for the first time recently and the non-gamers liked it while I found it frustrating. It all comes back to horses for courses I suppose. Similarly I still cannot believe that you don't like Adel which would be firmly on my top 5 games list.
Sherlock Holmes Criminal Cabinet was Spiel des Jahres 1985 or so. I wondered why I had never seen it in Britain until I saw it, among other things, it contains a complete newspaper from which you must extract clues. Not a game for non-German readers.
[MS: I had always assumed it to be a translation of Sleuth's Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective, one of the finest games on this here planet. I may be wrong.]
John Webley, Salzgitter Bad Devil Take the Hindmost is great, we played it at Essen one evening and had a great time. Dennis' other article was interesting, personally I always like games that I win, unfortunately this means that I don't get to like too many games!
Ellis Simpson, Glasgow I have been playing Devil Takes the Hindmost with a group of non gamers all of whom enjoyed it. It has more skill, I suspect, than is immediately apparent.
Bernard Bruno, West Worthing Do you know where I can obtain the game 'Conquest of the Empire' by MB?
[MS: Well, it very occasionally pops up on the collector circuit but regularly commands £100 or more. I think the one in the recent auction made around that figure. The game on which it is based, VI Caesars, has also appeared recently and might be cheaper, but of course you don't get the plastic figures or production value. Otherwise, little hope I'm afraid.]
Bob Mullholland, Exeter Could you add to the wanted column a set of rules for Parker's Airways?
Richard Adams, Harlow I'm trying to obtain a set of rules for Capri's Soccer manager. Can anyone help?
[MS: I'm sure these were in the auction - would someone (Paul J?) send me sets for Richard and Bob please?]
John Webley, Salzgitter Bad To fill some rulesbank question marks, New Orleans Big Band is from ASS, and there is no way that I am translating all those cards, Therapie is from MB and Turmbau is a Walter Muller production, or there is a small Ravensburger game of the same name. Mens Erger Je Niet is Ludo in Dutch, not a very neccesary translation I would have thought.
[MS: Indeed. I have erased it from the list accordingly. Thanks for the input John and for the latest batch of rules - the Extrablatt set helped us no end to enjoy the game as it was intended. And now, at last, Mike Clifford joins the Gaming Intelligentsia. I knew he couldn't resist it.]
Mike Clifford, Upper Norwood Those interested in trying ExtraBlatt as a two player exercise can do so by shuffling all cheque cards, and distributing 6 to each participant. During the challenge phase, any number of cheques may be presented, but they are NOT returned after use.
This means that a player may contest a maximum of six stories, assuming he plays one per round. As per the original rule, the 1,000 cheque takes preference over the 12,000 cheque. It was also suggested that the removal of one set of headlines from each group would add extra spice, but I haven't tried this as yet.
John Harrington, Enfield Dare I get embroiled in the twin subjects of Brian Walker and Strategy Plus? On the subject of translations of rules, it is probably fair to criticise a lot of Brian's rules translations. I don't think Brian is an accomplished linguist and the rules were probably painstakingly translated with the aid of a Collins Anglo-German dictionary or from memory. However, at the time, there was a big demand for these translations and it seems a little unjust to criticise someone for having a go. I am reminded of the possibly apocryphal Chico Marx story where Harpo tried to lure him away from a game of craps on the grounds that it was crooked and he would lose all his money. Chico is alleged to have replied, "I know it's crooked, but it's the only game in town." So, sticking up for my mate Brian I would say he deserves some credit for being one of the pioneers who popularised European games in this country, even if he is crap with rules translations (and that includes English ones!)
[MS: Call me old fashioned, but if you are going to do something at all, you should do it well. Mike Siggins: opinionated and merciless. What a total bastad!]
John... On the subject of Strategy Plus, I have noticed a number of comments in zines about the disappearance of the mag from WH Smith's and some (not Nik's in the last Sumo) have almost given the impression that Strategy Plus have done this deliberately! As if they did not want to sell the mag to British readers. When criticising Strategy Plus's record (for want of a better word), particularly in comparison with its competitors, almost all of whom are backed by major publishing houses (including the titles that have folded in the last few months), it is worth bearing in mind that Strategy Plus is essentially managed by just two people. Ian Marsh does (I believe) the lay-out and other technical bits and bobs, Brian does the editing, the reporting, the liasing with printers, advertising agencies, the landlord, the software companies and, on top of that, does a number of reviews too. From what I have gleaned he would prefer to drop most of these duties, particularly those that involve constantly ringing up software houses to blag review copies or wonder where their advertising copy is, and concentrate on the writing and the editing.
Inherent in this wish is a recognition that he is not really capable of doing all the tasks he is perforce constrained to do by economic limitations. He readily admits to making mistakes and to be still learning about the magazine business. I am sure some people think he had some massive master plan on a Robert Maxwell scale to defraud board gamers or indeed computer gamers out of large sums of money (I am referring here to two of the mag's biggest cock-ups, the disappearance of the board games and the price rise to coincide with the non-existant cover disk). In both cases I think he was buffeted by events he had to react too quickly to. He has publicly admitted in the mag that the dropping of the board games was badly handled and has repeatedly offered to recompense disgruntled subscribers subscription money. The bottom line, as the Americans are fond of saying, seemed to be with board games that the computer games took up more time than he realised and that it was not cost effective to devote resources to board games when the revenue from the adverts and the support from (most) British games companies was minimal (or in the case of the latter occasionally negative). Oh, and Mike, if the level of interest for board games was out there why did the magazine switch from GI to Strategy Plus in the first place?
[MS: I think you've answered that. I was highlighting the reader interest which is, by the evidence of Sumo alone, still there; what killed it was the miscalculation of the size and enthusiasm of the boardgame market and lack of advertising, support or anything much at all from the boardgame companies. I don't think there is any argument here.]
John... In my opinion his big mistake was in not making a clean break when GI became S+. He should have dumped the board games there and then but this would have been a bold thing to do, sacrificing a large part of the established subscriber base. In any case the man remains a board game enthusiast and maybe he had strange delusions of converting computer gamers to board games. I am loath to speak on his behalf - the man is perhaps too capable of expressing his own opinions well enough - but I can say that from my own conversations with him there was never at any time any inkling of a plan to "stitch up the board gamers".
[MS: I didn't intend to imply and don't believe that there was ever any attempt at a stitch up. I apologise to Brian if that was what was coming over. My groans were because the only decent outlet for boardgame reviews was patently disappearing, yet in the first issue the immortal 'no reduction in boardgame coverage' was promised - as you say, a clean break would have been the logical move, but then logic is not Brian's strong suit. I did wonder about this at the time as just about every magazine that has ever been subsumed (even when Scorcher merged with Score) has been relentlessly phased out. What happened to Games Monthly once eaten by GI? But otherwise, I take your points which were obvious to me when writing for GI, and it seems things are much the same.]
Bert Fridlund, Uppsala Some time ago I sent you some brochures and information about Swedish games. Here is some more information: A game from Aventyrsspel of the same generation as Lutzen, Napoleon and Okand Planet is Rymdimperiet, a financial game where you run freight lines in outer space. It is probably out of print, but may still be around in some stores. Just before Christmas, Ostindiska Kompaniet was published, a beautiful looking game about Swedish-Asian trade in the eighteenth century. One of the designers is Dan Glimne of ALGA fame. This is a first production of his new game company.
[MS: What a wonderful hobby this is. Just as I was starting to worry about the distinct lack of exciting games to look forward to, a space trading game and a game about the East India Company pop up in Sweden. Not only are these two of my very favourite subjects but we get luxury production as well. Needless to say, the Sumo buying department is already on a ferry to Stockholm and reviews will follow promptly if I can crack the rules problem.]
Tim Cockitt, Manchester I must ask about the choice of Lionel Games as a tradename. I think it's cryptic. Daglish thinks it refers to Niki Lauda (Il Leone). I think that's a bit fanciful. How about an open competition in Sumo for the most implausible explanation?
[MS: Hoho, cryptic is the word. Let 'em suffer, I reckon. Il Leone? Good grief man, that's on a par with calling The Tour 'highly concentric'! You credit us with far too much savvy I fear - we just knock 'em out.]
Paul Jefferies, Tunbridge Wells Here's another DIY idea for all those who have bough Lionel's Grand Prix Manager (any particular reason for the name?) The cars, having been mounted on thick card or not, can be made to look pretty nifty by simply picking up a couple of feet of wood moulding from your local store. The moulding comes in all shapes and sizes but the one you need looks something like this: [Lopsided Hump Backed Bridge Symbol]. All you do is cut the wood in pieces the same width as the car counters and stick the counters on the flat side. The end result look more like cars, are easier to move and are very easy to make up. You could of course paint them before you stick the counters on but it's not really necessary. Happy Racing.
[MS: Once again the photo supplied by Paul shows this off to best effect - it seems well worth the effort. Review of Grand Prix Manager next issue.]
John Harrington, Enfield I feel it is only fair to correct your comment on my footie game, Total Football, when you claim it takes as long as the real thing. Even using chess clocks it actually takes a bit longer but again, taking on board Ian Livingstone's advice I am trying to trim back the game length so as not to tax the player's patience. Having said that, and casting aside my cloak of modesty, the game does bear some relation to chess in its complexity of moves and patterns with each piece having individual abilities and for hard core footie fans it could well be a fascinating experience. I myself find it bloody hard work but then the only two teams I have play tested it against have been 1989 Spurs & Liverpool, and I always end up playing Spurs, so of course it is bloody hard work. A certain smug git from Garston probably finds it less hard work and rather more enjoyable playing Liverpool, who did have a fair old side that season.
[MS: Sounds interesting - are we likely to see a gamekit production John? My rates are very reasonable.]
Paul Oakes, Wandsworth Football Games: The game I want to play is a two player managerial level, single match simulation. Solitaire is OK but multi-player means I'm not in control of some aspect of my team. I assume by simulating a league the games become abstracted - well my interest is in the matches, not some system of ranking aggregate performances over a series of games (you can say that when your team has won 18 league titles.)
Admittedly Harrington's game is real time, but it does simulate every pass, foul, shot, foul (we played Liverpool vs Spurs). Statis Pro Football and Football Fantasm take four hours to play a sixty minute game (ie real time too!).
I'm afraid in-match data is not available, it's all subjective, as is much sports data anyway. Take, for example, a Montana 50 yard TD pass with a similar effort from Marino. Marino probably walks back twenty yards so he can get some room to throw the ball, whereas Montana tries a ten yard hand-off to the receiver. You'd never hear Montana call the legendary 'Niggers go Deep' play [MS: Can he say that?], whereas Clayton doesn't turn to see the ball coming until he's in row K. Similarly, in tennis, Becker may win more points with his volleys than McEnroe did at his peak, but that's because Becker has a better serve and McEnroe could win the point any way he wanted when he was in the zone.
Dave Farquhar, Hook I was interested to see the request for football game comments. This is the only type of board game that I have ever tried to design. I developed the rules, until I was satisfied that it was a potential winner; took a picture off the wall & drew the pitch on the back. Then I played the game. It was awful.
Thus, as an experienced football game designer I can tell you what I was after. The type of football game I would most like to play is an individual match, but as a game, rather than a statistical recreation. I want to see the flow of the match; runs down the wing, crosses, headers, volleys etc. However, I would like the rules to be relatively simple.
The basic concept that I toyed with was to use counters for the players, showing attributes, rather in the style of combat counters. Instead of attack, defend & morale though there would be dribble, pass, tackle, shoot, or maybe modifiers shown only where appropriate eg. a 1 shown in red above the head on the counter would denote a minus 1 modifier to heading ability. (Just typing this has resurrected my interest again.)
One method of determining the outcome of shots, tackles etc that I like the idea of is to use a system similar to that used for combat in Heroquest - rolling a certain number of dice against each other, showing symbols. The better the appropriate capabilities of the player, the more dice he gets.
What I could not recreate was the flow & excitement of the game, a fairly vital ingredient. Hope you try to produce something on soccer anyway. The only type I would not be interested in is the Lambourne Games style, with very limited player choice. I bought their game & found it boring. A management style football game would also be of interest. If you want a playtester for that, or any other game, I would love to have a go.
[MS: Rest assured they are underway in the Lionel R&D division. The first one out (soon, we hope) will be a results generator (rather than a game of skill) that will enable you to replay the World Cup at around five minutes per game. Meanwhile, I have a card system in the '70% done' phase but which also needs added flow and excitement! More news as it breaks.]
Gareth Lodge, Murrayfield I was interested to read your comments on the rugby world cup. I thought you were a bit harsh in your overall verdict but then you're more a soccer fan and I'm already a rugby fan.
[MS: It never ceases to amaze me what is read into my witterings. Of the two, I much prefer rugby (both league and union). I really quite dislike soccer as a spectator game and, most of all, as a topic of 'discussion'. If I have given the opposite impression, it must be because I watch it occasionally as an ill-informed 'neutral', commenting accordingly, but maintain an interest from the boardgaming viewpoint. Don't a lot of non-soccer fans watch the World Cup? That said, I'm far from a true rugger bugger either, though I love to watch internationals.]
I managed to attend all Scotland's games except for 3rd/4th place playoff (I live five minutes walk from Murrayfield) and (just to make you jealous) the final at Twickenham. By the way, I wasn't one of those morons who wore kilt & yellow jersey. Although deep down I wanted Australia to win, I couldn't actually cheer them - the hypocrisy of those scots is astonishing. England beat Scotland fair and square. Australia were the best side. England were the third best. The reason for supporting Australia in the final was simply to do with the bias of the media presentation and having an English win shoved down our throats at every opportunity. But they are a great team.
John Webley, Salzgitter Bad We have cable television here, the Post Office have cabled even a tiny street like this, and for about four pounds a month we get 17 channels including Eurosport and Sportkanal which is linked with Screensport and carried every Rugby World Cup game live. I think that you are being a bit hard on the referees, they went out of their way to coordinate their interpretation, announced how they were going to make their interpretations, which they felt would let the game flow, and then left it to the players, who failed miserably. They were told that they would be penalised if they killed the ball, they killed the ball regardless, they were duly penalised and then winged about the refereeing. The exceptions were the Australians, who were, I suspect, penalised significantly less than other teams; despite their unsavoury habits, which they developed under Alan Jones, of using centres as blockers, and of taking supporting players out without their getting within a sniff of the ball. A good contest nevertheless, but the only refereeing decision that I would really disagree with was in England v Italy, when Anderson agreed afterwards that he should have sent off an Italian or two for persistant infringements.
The German commentator was truly terrible, basically, he didn't really understand what was going on, and, when after the first week they took away the German rugby player who had been helping him then he just about gave up. I could have done better commentaries, but never mind, I was happy enough to be able to see the games.
German advert techniques aren't ten years behind the British, more like twenty. The standard advert here is two women sitting at home, with the visitor being amazed by the whiteness of her hostess' whites. Mind you, given the nature of German society this is probably very effective, being perceived by the neighbours as slovenly or dirty is social death here unless you are foreigners in which case it is expected.
[MS: John doing his bit there for European unity.]
David Wright, Coulsdon I strongly recommend Anthony Holden's 'Big Deal' which charts the year he spent as a poker professional - if you've never read it, David Spanier's 'Total Poker' is also worth a look. A knowledge of poker is not required to enjoy either book.
Comics: Do you still buy any? I became interested in comics during Alan Moore's ascendancy, having read an article in the music press baout his work on Swamp Thing. Watchmen and The Dark Knight also appeared at about that same time so I rushed off and bought up everything I could find by Moore or Miller - Daredevil, Elektra, Miracleman etc - plus anything else that looked interesting. i recently had a sort out and while most of the Moore or Miller has stood the test of time, not much else proved worth retaining. As you pointed out, nowadays there's an awful lot of crap about. I still buy Hellblaiser, Cerebus, Love & Rockets and Sandman on a regular basis, but little else.
[MS: No, I have stopped buying them completely and have also made a firm (and holding) resolution to virtually freeze book purchases until I have read a large chunk of those on 'The Pile', which crept through the 200 level recently. Guilt is too small a word. All I have bought by way of graphic novels in the last couple of years is the nicely done Hobbit and V for Vendetta which was highly passable but not a patch on the Watchmen or Dark Knight. To my eternal puzzlement (given its reputation), I have never got into Cerebus. I probably never will now. Anyone want my old issues 1-10? No, only joshing.]
Paul Oakes, Wandsworth I'd recommend 'Drif's Guide' to second hand bookshops. As a guide it's quite good, but as a collection of invective it makes TTYF look like Sumo - it's worth buying for its section explaining how Guildford doesn't really exist anymore, it's just car parks now. Unfortunately it is difficult to find in shops, so write to 41 North Road, London N7 9DP. I think £5 is enough.
Ben Volmert, Aachen Did you see Nikita? If yes, I'm strongly interested in your opinion.
[MS: Yes, I saw it last year and thoroughly enjoyed it. Unfortunately, I seemed to be almost alone in this and got a lot of the 'Well if you like films where a French woman runs around in a mini-skirt killing people, it's fine' type reaction. I guess I'm just a sucker for French movies.]
Andy Whitney, Lancaster Classic quote in The Sunday Times commenting on the new Spielberg film, Hook: 'Hook could well be the film that grosses so much that neither Hoffman or Williams will ever have to work again.' ...Like they'll be in the soup kitchens this Christmas if it doesn't go well. Jeeez!
Charles Vasey, East Sheen Chain Letters: I saw one of these. My room mate was showing off about the previous chainees only to be told not to be 'so fucking silly' by his partner. I smirked ineffably and and left the room to mail him another copy (Charles and The Evil Diesel, page 4).
Barry Amos, Southall I just found Sumo 4 & 5 in Leisure Games. How do you advertise a publication like this? I hadn't heard of it and I think Wargame News by Mike Costello died due to lack of awareness of its existance by many gamers. I enjoyed your newsletter more than the new glossy Gamesman!
[MS: I should think so too. OK, two points here. Firstly, I don't know what came over me last issue when I thought I liked Gamesman. I was wrong - something awry with the critical circuits I suspect. The boardgame coverage is now down to about three pages and I can't really see what I saw to feel happy about in the rest of the magazine. Saying that, issue eight (just arrived, 1/2/92) claims to be dumping the films, books and so on in favour of boardgames and RPG coverage. Watching brief called for I think. Secondly, independent of your comments, I enquired of Gamesman to see what they charged for an ad. I was given a price of around £200 for a quarter page. I strongly doubt I would have advertised anyway, but even as virtually the only outlet available, this seems a little steep. My mind boggles as to Leisure Game's (and their like) advertising budgets. Whatever, I am completely stuck for places to advertise and, yes, this seems to be the rub. Once people find it (in shops, in other fanzines, by personal recommendation, the Independent mention), they normally like Sumo. It is getting it to their attention that is the problem. Any advice from any quarter appreciated.]
Hironori Takahashi, Tokyo By the way, one of my friends working at a toy company tells me that there are Sumo games. Almost all the games are for families or young children. I hope you are pleased with the one I have sent.
[MS: Yes thankyou, I am, though goodness knows how you play it. It's all in plastic and includes about a dozen miniature wrestlers, a referee and a ring. According to the box art, it looks like you vibrate the wrestlers until one falls over. Sounds like a candidate for the 5&10 list. Talking of which....Yup, more of the buggers...]
David Wright 5+ Metric Mile, Bausack, Mystic Wood, Metropolis, Favoriten, Hols der Geier, Round the World in 80 Days, Dallas/Cartel, Entropy, B17, 6 Tage Rennen. 10+ Acquire, Alaska, Heimlich & Co, Topple, Sigma File, Sniff, Black Box, Fortune, Hare & Tortoise, Forumla One, Risk.
Richard Bass 5+ Ausbrecher, Speed Circuit, Sopwith, Shark, Hare & Tortoise, Kingmaker, 221b Baker Street, Metric Mile, Flusspiraten, Diplomacy, Deflections, Airlines, Borsenspiel, Sigma File, Awful Green Things. 10+ Hols der Geier, Adel, Elefantenparade, Calamity, Aussriesser, Undercover, Acquire, 6 Day Race.
Dave Farquhar 5+ Civil War, Full Metal Planete, Gettysburg '88, Tank Leader series, Fellowship of the Ring, Battle of the Five Armies, Merchant of Venus, Attack Sub, Armchair Cricket, Die Macher, Kremlin 10+ Adel, Scotland Yard, ASL, 6TR, Paydirt, Sherlock, Hare & Tortoise, Family Business, Rail Baron.
Ian Livingstone (Not including my own designs or spikey orc games) 5+ Formel Eins, Shark, Showbiz, McMulti, Summit, WP&S, TV Wars, Jockey, Favoriten, Top Rat, Manager, 1829, Adel, Speed Circuit, Der Aussriesser, Midnight Party, Election X, Wildlife Adventure, Mr President and Ogallala. 10+ Baseball Strategy, Forum Romanum, Heimlich & Co, Hols der geier, Can't Stop, Acquire, Apocalypse, Dallas (Yaquinto), Formula One, Liars Dice, Monte Carlo and Coup.
Merfyn Lewis I don't know if I mentioned it before but during my spare time I do youth club work. That is I take my games along to the youth clubs to play with the club members. I even get paid for my services - which can't be bad. This I find very enjoyable and it reflects the type of games they like to play. Here is a list, as a matter of interest to you, of the games that are played on a regular basis: Topple, Hands Down, Undercover, Favoriten, First Past the Post, Sloth, Karriere Poker, Ausbrecher, Pole Position, Hare and Tortoise, 6 Tage Rennen, Flusspiraten, Midnight Party, Showbiz, City, Paternoster, Asterix the Card Game, Cash and Hols der Geier.
[MS: And that is that, apart from a few comments on Grand Prix Manager carried into next issue. Good job I like feedback and typing, eh? Thanks to everyone who wrote in - that was some letter column.]
On to the 1991 Sumo Awards or back to the Inside Pitch.