The Perfect General

Title           The Perfect General
Game Type	Strategy
Company	        Ubi Soft
Players		1 or 2
Compatibility	One Floppy Drive and 512K Memory (2 Disks)
Submission	dledgard@hotmail.com

Review
The game is basically a WWII strategic battle simulator / resource
management game. It has a modem to modem option. It comes with 12
scenarios, 10 imaginary tutorial ones:

First Battle
Going for Gold
Rumble in the Jungle
Two Countries, One Island
A Need for Speed, A Simple Little War
Bombard, Caught in the Middle
Divide & Conquer
The Long and Winding Road
An Island at Peace
In the Middle Again

And two historic ones:

Patton Kicks Butt - based on the drive of one the three 'Western' Armies
into the Eagles Den (Germany), across the Rhine, which caused the final
collapse of Axis power. Historically the Germans blew up, or fiercely
defended many bridges, in a last ditch attempt to keep the Allies out.
If this battle had failed, Soviet Troops would have advanced far more
deeply into Western Europe. Make sure you get and keep the Bridges.

Alamein - this battle decided the fate of North Africa. The Germans were
lead by Rommel, a 'decent' German General, i.e. not a real Fascist, who
later got involved in a plot to assassinate Hitler, in the hope that peace
could be negotiated with one or both sides, before Armies arrived on
Germany's Eastern AND Western boarders. The Plot failed, and Rommel was
forced to commite suicide by the Gestapo, in order to save his family, and
prevent the German people learning he was a 'traitor'. His army had a
large number of inferior Italian Units, who were badly trained and
equipped, and not committed to the War. He also suffered supply problems,
as supplies had to come across the Mediterranean, which was policed by the
Royal Navy and Air Force, with a concentration at Malta.

Field Marshal Montgomery, Monty, led the British and Commonwealth Side.
Made up of a large number of Australian, South Africa, and Indian
Troops. Both sides were evenly matched. Montgomery went on to lead the
Invasion of Italy, and a D-Day Army. If the British had lost, all North
Africa would have fallen to the Axis, plus the Middle East. There were a
large number of Jewish Immigrants in Palestine, who would most certainly
have been killed, the Palestinians and many other new states would have
Allied with the Axis, and the Suez Canal would be closed to Allied
shipping, increasing supply runs to Britain. Most of the World's known
Oil reserves were in this region, which the Nazi War machine was very
short off. Hitler would have been wiser to delay his invasion of Russia
for a year, beginning in Spring, not late Summer as he did (and without
Winter Equipment!) - this and the unexpected Yugoslav uprising saved
Moscow, Russia, and the World from Nazi tyranny (not however from
Communism). Instead, he should have reinforced North Africa, but he
didn't as his hatred of the Slav 'subhumans' was so great; any
conquests in North Africa would have gone to the Italians; and because
he didn't want to lose the element of surprise in Russia (he knew they
were developing tanks). But it is easy to point out mistakes with
hindsight.

The Game is turn based, with the player moving individual Units, and
commanding them to attack or fire. At the beginning of each scenario you
get buy points which allow you to buy a certain amount of Units, in some
scenarios you also get reinforcement points at intervals depending on how
many towns you hold, you must have at least one unit in that town. Some
scenarios have Neutral countries, if one side attacks them, the other gets
a certain number of buy points. Sometimes it is worth attacking to get at
your enemies weak spots (like Germany going through Belgium, to avoid
France's Maginot Line). The board is divided into hex squares, so when on
one, you can move to 6 others. Each objective earns you or your Enemy
Victory Points until either get enough to win. If the time runs out it's a
draw. Artillery is first plotted then fired, the closer it is to the
target, the more accurate. Barrage shots damage units moving into that
square, including your own, for the whole turn. Artillery also damages
Units in neighbouring squares, units have a % damage, or you can choice a
random change of destruction at the beginning of the game.

There are 11 types of Unit (MR = Movement Range per turn, slow units can
be transported in some faster units, but die with them, should they be
killed):

Armored Car - 9 MR - Very weak
Light Tank - 6 MR - Cheap, Weak
Medium Tank - 5 MR
Heavy Tank - 4 MR - Expensive, Strong
Mobile Artillery - 4 MR - Inaccurate, limited range
Infantry - 1 MR - Cheap, weak - Good for revealing ambush, and
scouting/occupying towns
Engineer - 1 MR - Lays/defuses Mines. Builds/destroys Bridges.
Bazookas - 1 MR - Expensive, good for surprise attacks on Tanks
Light Artillery - 1 MR - Good attack
Heavy Artillery - 1 MR - Expensive, Strong attack
Mines - 0 MR

You must decide what to buy, depending on cost, speed, defence, and
offence. You get a lot predecided. It is a good idea to have a mix, as
some Units are good for only one thing, it's a difficult trade off, get
it wrong and you LOSE. Terrain type affects movement speeds, and
defence. Roads and Railroads are fastest, but can get damaged. Hills may
block vision, and give resident Units a combat advantage. Coastal
invasions can be launched on beaches. The Terrain types include Clear
Field, Road, Railroad, Forest, Hill, Town, Fortification, Desert, Sea,
Beach, Bridge, Rivers, Escarpment, and Depression.

To conclude this game is extremely detailed, it has 8 phases per turn,
and many Units. This tends to make the game extremely slow, and boring,
so only small scenarios are really playable. They should have included
an option to simplify combat a bit. I did play this game on a very old
and slow Amiga, so played on a faster machine it might not be such a
trial, but I doubt it. If your into War games you'll probably like it,
otherwise steer clear. At least this game challenges you, most computer
games you can run rings around, because the AI is so stupid, or you find
a loop hole.

Alphabetical list.