Crete 1941

Your Sinclair

Life Expectancy 83%

Instant Appeal 76%

Graphics 53%

Addictiveness 78%

Overall 79%

Jonathan Davies 79%

CCS £12.95 cass/£14.95 disk Reviewer: Jonathan Davies Crete 1941 - it sounds suspiciously like one of your Auntie Vera's holiday snaps albums, doesn't it? But in actual fact, Auntie Vera would have been pretty daft to have holidayed in Crete in 1941. There was quite a serious battle raging there at the time, you see, and she could easily have got caught in the crossfire between the invading German paratroops and the defending Australian and New Zealand divisions under the command of General Freyberg. Bad news for Crete's tourist industry, then, but good news for CCS who've decided it was about time they simulated it. Or perhaps not it you've just joined me from that review on the other side of the page and are casually expecting the same sort of running-about-killing-people bits. This is just a simple strategy game, you see (which means lots of rather-dull-in-comparison squares, movement phases and morale levels). UM... The great difficulty when it comes to reviewing a war game is trying to work out how exactly it differs from all the rest of them. Well, I've examined this one in some depth and I've ascertained that a) it's set in Crete, b) it's probably a bit more complicated than usual as you've got air attacks to consider, along with paratroop drops and capturing airfields, and c) it's got a few 'interesting' features like roads and troop evacuations. Graphically its about as dire as these things always are, but the blue coloured squares beloved of wargamers do their job reasonably well, I suppose. I have to take issue with the scrolling, though - it's just a bit too slow and jerky to be comfortable. Presentation generally is unadventurous (wargame programmers still don't seem to have discovered that there are alternatives to the Sinclair character set). So if wargames feature highly on your list of pleasurable activities you'd be daft to miss out on Fallschirmjager (as it's cryptically subtitled). After all, new ones are pretty thin on the ground these days and this one's got some pretty devious strategies and things lurking in there somewhere. Now where did I put that SdKfz 2? (Eh? Ed)

And here it is, the beautiful island of Crete. Package holidays begin at two guineas, depending on which invasion season you choose to go in...

Giddee-aunts! It's the shop bit! Time to see which bits of antique weaponry take my fancy, eh, Spec-chums? Let me see now - yes, I quite like the look of those paratroops (and how much are the tanks, please, sir?)

The anchor symbols mean there's a port there and the plane means (spook!) there's an airfield. (Sometimes my powers of observation quite amaze me.)

Read it at Your Sinclair Rock'n'Roll Years

Crash

Presentation 78%

Graphics 70%

Sound 20%

Playability 68%

Addictivity 65%

Overall 68%

Paul Rigby 68%

CCS £12.95 At the beginning of April 1941, General Kurt Student of the XI Fliegerkorps considered the possibility of employing not only one regiment but the whole of the existing German airborne units, in an operation greater than any so far provided by the Luftwaffe. Within the framework of Operation Marita, he suggested taking the island of Crete by airborne attack. It's this daring attack - and the defence by the exhausted allied troops - that's covered by CCS's new hex-based wargame, Crete 1941. Designed for one or two players, Crete 1941 allows you to take either side, with the addition of many useful menu options to give a variety of 'what if' scenarios. For example, after the German troops had landed, their essential supply convoy was destroyed by allied ships. A menu option allows the convoy to arrive or sail under 'variable' survival, which is a random affair giving a 50-50 chance of survival. In addition, you can enable/disable wind drift during para drops which, when enabled, gives a good chance of German troops missing their drop point or drowning in the sea. You can also alter initial deployment. Movement, across the map (that covers many screens) is hidden and visibility is restricted during night moves. Among the many orders available are the following: Road, a time-saving order instructing a unit to move via the road only; Transport, for German convoys; Evac -evacuation - which affects victory conditions of Allied players; and Status, divided up into name, order, strength, movement points, cohesion (how well organised the unit is), morale and tactics (training/experience of the troops). The graphics are usable, with relatively clear counter type units and terrain symbols. One slight gripe is that it would've been nice to have had the option of a strategic map that shrank the large tactical map into one screen, giving the player a more general viewpoint of the battle. A more serious criticism lies with the combat. An attacking unit has no choice but to attack all adjacent ones, a silly rule, especially as some of the adjacent units may lie in vastly different terrain (mountainous, flat, etc). I would've liked to have seen selective attacks made possible. As it is, the tactical battles are more of a lottery, while unit movement is akin to playing draughts rather than commanding military units. This combat irregularity spoiled an otherwise enjoyable wargame.

Heraklion harbour in Crete 1941 (better keep an eye out for Minotaurs, eh myth lovers?)