JAGDPANTHER # 14 Vol.

4 # 2 July, 1976

JAGDPANTHER is published quarterly by JagdPanther Publi-

EDITORIAL
cations of Amarillo, Texas. All material is Copyright
1976 by JagdPanther Publications. All rights are reserved If running a business and editing a magazine is a
No part of this or any other page may be reproduced with- learning experience, then the most effective way to learn
out the written permission of the publishers. Mailing is to experiment. It has been a long time since an issue
address: Box 3565,Amarillo, Texas,79106. Business Offices of JAGDPANTHER was as experimental as this one, and we
at 1408 W 8th, Amarillo, Texas, 806-372-8861. hope that this will meet with your approval, and thus be
successful.
Subscriptions are $9.00 per year (4 issues), renewals are Perhaps the most important experiment has been to
$8.50 per year. Sample copies are $3.00, back issues are see if, once haying fallen two months behind, we could
$5.00 each. Advertising is available, write for rates. catch up, not slowly over a year, but in the space of a
single issue. Having done so, we like to think that this
JagdPanther Publications is owned by Stephen V. Cole and magazine and company have demonstrated an ability to get
Allen D. Eldridge. the job done, and to correct any irregularity which works
its way into the system. That during the past year we
Printing and Die Cutting by Standard Printing of Amarillo. have never had to cease answering mail for more than a
day or so, while previously we shut down that department
Regular Contributors include: Clifford L Sayre Jr, John for a full month when preparing each issue, indicates to
Berry, Howard Anderson, John Anderson, Scott Rusch, James us that we have learned how to run a business.
M Brown, James A Gavin, Mike Moscoe, Daniel S. Palter,Jim The most immediately apparent difference between the
Bumpas and Phil Kosnett. current issue and the past ones will be, for most of you,
the fact that the game rules are fully eight pages long.
TABLE OF CONTENTS This is not entirely due to WARSAW PACT being a rather
detailed game, but more due to our continuing policy of
Editorial ......................................... 2 integrating the designer's notes throughout the rules. We
The Problems of the P A C T ......................... 3 feel that if we present a- rule that does not at first
Minor Allies in THIRD REICH ....................... 4 seem to make sense, we should present our justification
The Germans in Spain ............................. 4 for that rule right there in the same paragraph, not in a
FEATURE ARTICLE: Strategic Considerations in BAR LEV 5 designer's notes column. Also, many rules involve more
New WITE Startline ............................... 6 than one section, and for your convenience have been put
Condor CHACO ..................................... 6 into both. We feel that our current state of quality-
Subs in C A ....................................... 7 control should be sufficient to let us get away with this
PUNIC W A R S ....................................... 8 without having two rules that contradict each other. By
Spread Thin ....................................... 9 all means, let us know if you feel the extra space was
El A l a m e i n ............................... . 9 worth it. It makes a difference.
The Germans at PORT ARTHUR ....................... 9 And finally, this issue marks a record in the number
VIVA! ...........................................10 of game companies represented in our pages. This happen-
ed more or less by accident, in that most of our playtest
A r e s i a ...........................................10 people are students, and having the summer off, they be-
Weapon System/Game System ......................... 10 gan cracking through the mountain of games that had been
P i l o t s ...........................................10 sent to us since last fall. We have found that we can
GAME FEATURE: THE WARSAW P A C T ................... 11 give coverage to more companies, more games, and more
Five Magicks ..................................... 19 historical periods than any other magazine, and yet still
Ironclad FRIGATE ................................. 20 provide the WW2 and modern people, who comprise the ma-
W a k e .............................................21 jority of gamers, with more than enough material to keep
Unbalanced Naval Scenarios ....................... 21 them gaming until next issue.
Panzer Armee Amphib ............................... 21
This ties in with what is slowly developing into the
Narvik B a y ....................................... 22
FORMALHAUT I I ..................................... 22 role that JAGDPANTHER is to play in the gaming industry.
More and more, our subscribers are telling us that they
WESTWALL Q U A D ..................................... 22
ANVIL-DRAGOON variant ............................. 23 are dropping other magazines, but keeping ours. They, or
SE A- ST RI KE....................................... 23 that is, you, tell us that JAGDPANTHER, by not only pro-
R E V O L T ........................................... 24 viding some of the best games on the market but also var-
More TANKs ....................................... 24 iants to old games, also allows them to keep up with new
LENINGRAD notes ................................... 24 companies, new games, and new techniques that are being
M I D W A Y ...........................................24 constantly developed. Some readers inform us that they
FRANCE 40 B G ' s ................................... 25 are dropping out of wargaming, due to increasing age and
C R O M W E L L ......................................... 25 responsibility, but keeping their JP sub just to keep an
Shore Batteries................................... 25 eye on what the hobby is doing. JAGDPANTHER is the only
WHISKEY STATION................................... 25 magazine that can keep readers informed on the total
boardgaming hobby, and it is about time we started doing
Masked Merchantmen ............................... 26
just that.
BRANDY STATION ................................... 26
What does this mean to you, the JP subscriber? It
COMBINED ARMS redone ............................. 26
means that in future issues you will continue to see ar-
F E E D B A C K ......................................... 27
ticles on games by the smaller companies, as well as the
GAMES U S E D ....................................... 27
larger ones. It means that we will take seriously our
job of informing you of the design aspects of games, not
by reviews which by their nature are biased one way or
Cover and page 3 photos provided by US Army. the other, but by variants, strategy and analysis arti-
The last issue, presumably because of the game sur- cles, which take you deep into the game and allow you to
vey, got more feedback results in less time than ever be- form your own opinions of it, instead of relying on some-
fore, totaling almost 30% of the subscribers so far. The one elses. Unfortunately, some games are so poor that we
game survey is still being evaluated, but the best arti- feel obligated to wander the analysis article closer into
cles are as follows: Invasion America 17%, AG North 10%, a review to point out some of the weaker aspects. This
WWI Tank and West Quad 7% each, and Weapon System/Game is a rare occasion.
System 5%. This is the first time that home office ar- But JAGDPANTHER is finding a role to play, and keep-
ticles were 1st and 2nd, and the first win by a history ing faith with its customers and subscribers by continu-
article. We appreciate your responses. ing to provide the materials you paid for.