[{"TitleName":"Battle 1917","Publisher":"CCS","Author":"Mark Lucas","YearOfRelease":"1983","ZxDbId":"0000448","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 2, Mar 1984","Price":"£0.75","ReleaseDate":"1984-02-23","Editor":"Roger Kean","TotalPages":112,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Roger Kean\r\nDesigner: Oliver Frey\r\nConsultant Editor: Franco Frey\r\nStaff Writers: Lloyd Mangram, Rod Bellamy\r\nAdvertisement Manager: John Edwards\r\nProduction Designer: Michael Arienti\r\n\r\n©1984 Newsfield Ltd.\r\n\r\nCrash Micro is published monthly by Newsfield Ltd. [redacted]\r\n\r\nNo material may be reproduced in whole or in part without written consent from the copyright holders.\r\n\r\nMono printing, typesetting & finishing by Feb Edge Litho Ltd. [redacted]\r\nColour printing by Allan-Denver Web Offset Ltd. [redacted].\r\nColour origination by Scan Studios, [redacted]\r\nDistributed by Wells Gardner, Darton & Co. [redacted]\r\n\r\nSubscriptions: 12 issues £9.00 UK Mainland (post included)\r\nEurope: 12 issues £15 (post included).\r\nSingle copy: 75p\r\n\r\nIf you would like to contribute to CRASH please send articles or ideas for projects to the above address. Articles should be typed. We cannot undertake to return them unless accompanied by a stamped addressed envelope\r\n\r\nCover Illustration:Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"Producer: C.C.S.\r\nMemory Required: 48K\r\nRetail Price: £6.00\r\nLanguage: Basic\r\nAuthor: Mark Lucas\r\n\r\nThe author, Mark Lucas, won the Cambridge Award for writing this program. The competition is run by C.C.S. in conjunction with the magazine Sinclair User, and the Award plus £1000 goes to the winner, and of course the winner receives the satisfaction of seeing the program marketed. Battle 1917 is likely to prove popular with wargamers and perhaps with chess players too, as there is a resemblance in part.\r\n\r\nThe board, or war zone, is laid out with the opposing forces at the top and bottom of the screen, each side has a King in the centre, protected by artillery and flanked by tanks, cavalry and Infantry. Each unit, except the King, is subdivided into four characters. The characters move as a group, but can easily get split up by the terrain. Each unit also has a fighting strength and a movement allowance.\r\n\r\nThe battlefield, 21 by 32 squares large, is dotted with obstacles like rivers, forests, barbed wire and minefields. Tanks aren't bothered by wire or trees, but cannot go through water. The rest can't go across any obstacle. Minefields have a percentage chance of exploding when contacted. In addition to moving around, the artillery can fire in any of the 8 compass points desired, although extreme short range runs a risk of self destruction since shots may not land on the exact square they are supposed to.\r\n\r\nA prompt at the bottom of the screen tells each player which piece is to move next and reminds him or her how many squares it can travel and asks for the direction wanted. When one player has moved all his pieces, it is the second player's turn. When units of opposing forces meet, battle ensues and is won or lost by adding a random figure for each, from one to five, to the unit's official fighting strength. The higher figure wins. The aim of the game is to kill off the opponent's king.\r\n\r\nDirections are inputted using the numeric keys 1 to 8, 1 being North and 8 being North-West. There is an on-screen compass prompt as a quick visual aid.\r\n\r\nCOMMENTS\r\n\r\nControl keys: 1-8\r\nColour quite good\r\nGraphics: fairly small but recognisable\r\nSound: very little","ReviewerComments":["If chess appeals to you, you might like this, although it hasn't got the same sort of tactical clarity as chess. I thought the graphics were rather average and the moves and goings on rather slow. At least it does allow two people to compete against each other - really the computer is only used as a playing board and score keeper. It might have been a good idea to have a single player versus the computer option - after all you have to have an opponent also addicted to play properly and that's not always so easy.\r\nUnknown","It does take quite a long time to play - but then, so does chess. Whether it's as good as chess, I'm not so sure. It has more variety than chess but also a strong element of luck as to who wins a battle. This does rather destroy the tactical value somewhat. It certainly isn't what you would call an addictive game, and I think you would have to play for some time in two before deciding whether it had real lasting value as a game.\r\nUnknown","Definitely a game for the strategy, wargamer freaks. I'm sure it has lots of scope for them. It left me cold as I never quite know how to take this sort of game. The graphics are pretty good, although only character squares which vanish in one spot to reappear in another, nothing is really animated. It does have very amusing instructions in the 2-part load which involve some graphical shenanigans.\r\nUnknown"],"OverallSummary":"General Rating: good of its kind, but a specialised taste.","Page":"88,89","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Unknown","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Chess meets wargame in award-winning Battle 1917."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Use of Computer","Score":"75%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"54%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"58%","Text":""},{"Header":"Getting Started","Score":"65%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictive Qualities","Score":"55%","Text":""},{"Header":"Value For Money","Score":"68%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"63%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 10, Nov 1984","Price":"£0.85","ReleaseDate":"1984-10-25","Editor":"Roger Kean","TotalPages":160,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Roger Kean\r\nConsultant Editor: Franco Frey\r\nProduction Designer: David Western\r\nArt Editor: Oliver Frey\r\nAdventure Editor: Derek Brewster\r\nStaff Writer: Lloyd Mangram\r\nContributing Writers: Matthew Uffindel, Chris Passey\r\nClient Liaison: John Edwards\r\nSubscription Manager: Denise Roberts\r\nCirculation Manager: Tom Hamilton\r\nAll circulation enquiries should ring [redacted]\r\n\r\n©1984 Newsfield Limited.\r\nCrash Micro is published monthly by Newsfield Ltd. [redacted]\r\n\r\nGeneral correspondence to: [redacted]\r\n\r\nTelephone numbers\r\nGeneral office [redacted]\r\nEditorial/studio [redacted]\r\nAdvertising [redacted]\r\nHot Line [redacted]\r\n\r\nNo material may be reproduced in whole or in part without written consent from the copyright holders.\r\n\r\nPhotosetting by SIOS [redacted]\r\nColour origination by Scan Studios, [redacted]\r\nPrinted in England by Carlisle Web Offset Ltd (Member of the BPCC Group), [redacted].\r\nDistribution by COMAG, [redacted]\r\n\r\nSubscriptions: 12 issues £10.50 (UK Mainland post free)\r\nEurope: 12 issues £17.50 (post free).\r\n\r\nWe cannot undertake to return any written or photographic material sent to CRASH Magazine unless accompanied by a stamped addressed envelope.\r\n\r\nCover by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"BATTLE 1917\r\n\r\nProducer: CCS\r\nRetail Price: £5.95\r\nAuthor: Mark Lucas\r\n\r\nWell what do you know... Right from the start of Battle 1917 you know you're dealing with a toy. When you ask for instructions, it gets all funny ha- ha with the tank symbols and suchlike. It makes whoopee cushion noises at you. In short, this program treats the user like a favoured, but moronic, grandchild (this does not bode well for the Cambridge Awards jury. Who are they? Are they utterly bold?) The game itself is just a straight battle between two players; each player starts off with a King and 28 units of various types. The problem is that the units are grouped together n fours, and orders can only be given to the group as a whole. This means that as the group gets broken up (as you move diagonally, for example, some units may pass the corner of a lake while others get stuck behind it) you can end up moving three units in the wrong direction just to get a fourth one out from behind a tree. Cannon, the only units that can fire, must all fire in the same direction and for the same range. Whilst the game is very fast moving, a little more thought and time could have produced something with individual or group movement, which would have been miles better. One excellent feature of the game is the directional compass on the map, which gives the key for the direction you need. The graphics are clear, but are pretty juvenile.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"A toy. Nice for eight year- olds.","Page":"134","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Angus Ryall","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 4, May 1984","Price":"£0.75","ReleaseDate":"1984-04-19","Editor":"Roger Kean","TotalPages":128,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Roger Kean\r\nConsultant Editor: Franco Frey\r\nProduction Designer: David Western\r\nArt Editor: Oliver Frey\r\nClient Liaison: John Edwards\r\nStaff Writer: Lloyd Mangram\r\nContributing Writers: Matthew Uffindel, Chris Passey\r\nSubscription Manager: Denise Roberts\r\n\r\n©1984 Newsfield Ltd.\r\nCrash Micro is published monthly by Newsfield Ltd. [redacted]\r\n\r\nTelephone numbers\r\nEditorial [redacted]\r\nSubscriptions [redacted]\r\nAdvertising [redacted]\r\nHot Line [redacted]\r\nNo material may be reproduced in whole or in part without written consent from the copyright holders.\r\n\r\nColour origination by Scan Studio, [redacted]\r\nPrinted in England by Plymouth Web Offset Ltd, [redacted].\r\nDistribution by Comag, [redacted]\r\nAdditional setting and process work by The Tortoise Shell Press, [redacted].\r\n\r\nSubscriptions: 12 issues £9.00 UK Mainland (post free)\r\nEurope: 12 issues £15 (post free).\r\n\r\nWe cannot undertake to return any written or photographic material sent to CRASH MICRO unless accompanied by a stamped addressed envelope.\r\n\r\nCover by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"Producer: C.C.S., 48K\r\n£6.00 (2)\r\n\r\nThe program won the 1983 Cambridge Award. It is a unique mix between a conventional wargame and chess, with the board, or war zone, laid out not unlike a chess board. The opposing armies face each other in formalised ranks with the battle area between them. This is full of obstacles like barbed wire, mines, water and forests. Each side has a King, artillery units, tanks, cavalry and infantry units. The object of the game is to capture the opponent's King. The units move as a group, but can be spit up into individuals by the terrain. Each unit has its own characteristics in how much it may move per turn, and what terrain type it may or may not cross. The moves are prompted on screen, so extremely complex wargame instructions are not necessary. If you like wargames, this is quite an original concept with reasonable graphics despite the BASIC. Amusing instructions in the 2-part load. Overall CRASH rating 63%.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"68","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"63%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]