"Listen my childrenAnd you shall hear
Of the midnight ride
Of a Panzergrenadier."
In Patton Strikes Back, prolific designer Chris Crawford (who
has solid wargame credits dating back to the days of
mainframes) presents history as it was meant to be: entertaining.
While we can easily imagine Laugh-In's German soldier Arte
Johnson describing this game as "veeeeeery interesting," we
know that there is no reason for the prime-time personality to
finish that famous punchline. It is not stupid (to finish the line for
our younger readers). On the contrary, Patton Strikes Back is a
strategy game that is not only full of sound and fury, but actually
signifies something important.
Perhaps, it is best expressed by noting that it is not often this
reviewer's six-year old son actually enjoys watching daddy play
those boring old wargames on the computer. Now, he's giving
valid tactical advice to daddy! Truly, Patton Strikes Back's
design team have hit the mark with one little wargaming recruit
(now nicknamed "Junior General James" thanks to playing this
game).
Everything Old Is New Again
The "Battle of the Bulge" was the German offensive through Belgium
in December of 1944. The tired American army was dispersed
and resting in the snow when the Germans unleashed a
massive surprise assault, using many of their elite divisions. As
the Germans poured through the breach in the Allied lines on
their race to the Meuse river, a counterattack was organized. Brilliant
execution of command and control by General George S.
Patton, Jr. brought relief to the besieged American 101st Airborne
division, who had been trapped for days at the crucial road
junction of Bastogne. The rest, as players will find out, is history.
Patton Strikes Back (originally, and perhaps more accurately,
entitled Patton Kicks Butt!) is a brigade- and division-level wargame
of the Battle of the Bulge. For solitaire play only as either
side, the game is played in real time (which can be altered from
arcade-fast to strategy slow and is "paused" every time a unit is
selected and pondered over). Alternately, a player may just elect
to observe a battle fought by the computer as both sides. Jaded
wargamers who have been playing paper wargames for years,
however, have seen scores of "Bulge" games come and go. So
what makes Patton Strikes Back something new?
Patton on the Glitz
Patton Strikes Back offers players an attractive map of the Ardennes
forest (which is remarkably uncluttered, considering the
nature of the terrain there). Players can envision the "square"
grid upon which the pieces maneuver (except, perhaps, along
certain twists in the roads). Units move and attack only in the
four main compass directions, never diagonally. To simplify matters
of maneuver for new wargamers, the military units are not
presented in the standard wargame symbology (rectangular
boxes with crosses, ovals and dots in them, as seen in the Computer
Wargaming World Table of Contents). Instead, each unit
is shown as one of four symbols:
For defense, there is a large, placid-looking dot with a single
parenthesis along one side facing a given compass point, indicating
the direction the defending unit is "facing" (i.e., best prepared
to defend).
For attack, there is a thick, stocky arrow. Slow to move, it
points in the direction of the attack's thrust.
For maneuvering, there is a a thin, elegant double arrow. Fast
and sleek, it also points in the direction the unit is maneuvering
toward.
For routed units, an "X" symbol appears to indicated their shattered
status. Without any facing, these units move automatically
to the player's rear areas and are highly vulnerable if attacked.
The combination of these unit icons in play and the single "gestalt
intake" map (which need never be "zoomed" to pick up
game details, as so many other wargames require) creates a play environment that is simplicity itself.
An important principle of war is
simplicity, and Patton Strikes Back
has kept it simple.
When You're Odd, the
Odds Are With You
Granted, each unit, when selected,
presents such mundane wargaming information
on the screen as the unit's
strength, fatigue and supply status,
but for the beginner who'll just enjoy
"pushing the pieces around," the accountancy
of wargaming can wait a
while. Combat really does take all
these matters into account, however,
and those who would like to actually win this game (particularly
at the higher of the five difficulty levels) will have to learn how to
evaluate those numbers. Pull down menus or hot keys can be
selected in order to visualize each unit's "zones of control," supply
status, supply lines and order status. All of these elements
function in such a clear, simple and logical way that it seems unnecessary
to comment further.
As units "bump" into each other, the arrows on-screen animate
a bit to show the clash of units. Immediately afterward, a report
of the battle will pop up, with a comment like "Von
Schmendrick's elite 10th Panzer unit has crushed the green
troops of Smith's 61st Infantry regiment." Following that, units
might have their orders rescinded or changed by the computer,
pending the battle results. The worst fate of all, of course, is
seeing one's units "x"ed into a shattered state, where only time
and rest might afford their recovery.
Finally, for the new players especially, there is a selection on
the menu called "Tactical Advice." When selected, the German
player will see Chris Crawford, in uniform and bearing a delicious
attitude of German aristocratic arrogance, as he offers sound advice
such as "pull these troops out" or "seize that bridge." An
equally humorous, cigar-chomping, coffee-drinking American lout
of a General will offer similar advice for Allied players. The tactical
advice is very sound and repeated requests for advice do not
give duplicate answers.
You Are There
Every wargame tries to capture some type of "you are there"
experience, such as the plain-speaking, yet detailed, battle
reports mentioned above. To help the player achieve true
"suspended disbelief" and truly feel in command of this wargame,
one need only listen. Listening, in fact, is what has drawn
a crowd around the old family computer while playing Patton
Strikes Back. The audio portion of the game has a perfect
soundtrack of bullets flying, bombs dropping, tanks squeaking
along, the thunder of marching infantry, the bugle call of
"reveille" to begin each game day and so much more. It is the
equivalent of a Hollywood soundtrack for a good war film. Everything
about the sound and opening music to the game has been
designed to hit players emotionally enough to communicate the
feel of war.
Newsreels
Adding to the "you are there" element are little "mini-movies"
which occur during play. As units engage in battle or conquer
key objectives, not only do the sounds of battle and maneuver
fill the air, but "newsreel" footage of the event also plays for a
few delightful seconds on one's
monitor. Like the combat unit icons,
they add a friendliness and familiarity
to the game that embraces the wargaming
novice in a manner not seen
by this reviewer in his 20 years as a
wargamer. Seeing these little "reward"
movies on a computer screen makes
Patton Strikes Back actually compelling
to play.
Just Add History
So far, real wargamers ("grognards")
are probably peering down
their noses as they read this review. A
game so full of "fluff," no matter how
well done, cannot be for the hard-core
historical simulation enthusiast. Wrong!
As certain moments pass during the course of play, the "instant
history lesson" pops up with a dreamlike musical fanfare. The
whole screen is filled with a history lesson which is actually applicable
to one's experiences on the gaming battlefield. After reading
the specific historical anecdote, the player can hit the "Tell
me more" button and get a second page from a more general,
military strategy perspective. Well-written by the historiphiles who
created this game, this Three Penny Opera approach (feeding
the players an enjoyable gaming experience before "preaching"
the history to them) is brilliant. Admittedly, not everyone will
want to get into the historical aspects of the game, but like the
sound and mini-movies, this instant history lessons can be toggled
off. (Additionally, the lessons can be called up at will from a
pull-down menu.)
Hickory Dickory Docs
About the only place where this reviewer minded that the game
"went a bit off the paper" was, ironically, on paper. The documentation
is certainly concise and accurate. No, that wasn't the problem.
The classroom, conversational style of the rules was a tad
distracting. Passages like "Don't get surrounded, and if a big
mean Panzer division approaches, turn tail and run" and
"'Squares?' you say. 'What squares?' Oops — I forgot to mention
the map is divided into invisible squares, just like a chessboard"
are certainly personable, but not everyone will be comfortable
with such casual banter in a game's documentation.
The Fortunes of War(gaming)
This reviewer must certainly tip his hat to Patton Strikes Back.
Broderbund took a courageous publishing risk on this introductory
war/strategy game, no doubt because Chris Crawford
believed so in the idea and sold them on it. Wargame sales will
pale next to their Carmen Sandiego and Print Shop titles, but
any good game, done right, will be a hit, even if only in a niche
market.
The design team had a definitive idea in mind for what it would
take to create exactly the type of game they wanted: easy
enough for beginners, fast enough to keep the excitement level
high and rich enough in historical detail to actually teach some
enjoyable lessons. For every design goal, they clearly hit a bull's
eye. When a professional critic like this reviewer can't find some
chink in a game's armor, the design and development work
must have been thoroughly executed. Now, it's all up to the consumers,
voting with their wallets, to determine if Patton Strikes
Back sells as well as it was made.
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