[{"TitleName":"Austerlitz","Publisher":"KW Software","Author":"Ken Wright","YearOfRelease":"1985","ZxDbId":"0000454","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 24, Jan 1986","Price":"£1.95","ReleaseDate":"1985-12-12","Editor":"Graeme Kidd","TotalPages":196,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Publishing Executive: Roger Kean\r\nEditor: Graeme Kidd\r\nTechnical Editor: Franco Frey\r\nArt Editor: Oliver Frey\r\nProduction Designer: David Western\r\nProduction Assistants: Gordon Druce, Matthew Uffindell\r\nSoftware Editor: Jeremy Spencer\r\nAdventure Editor: Derek Brewster\r\nSub Editor: Sean Masterson\r\nStaff Writer: Lloyd Mangram\r\nContributing Writers: Chris Passey, Robin Candy, Ben Stone, John Minson, Mark Hamer, Gary Liddon, Julian Rignall, Gary Penn\r\nClient Liaison: John Edwards\r\nSubscription Manager: Denise Roberts\r\nMail Order: Carol Kinsey\r\n\r\n©1985 Newsfield Limited.\r\nCrash Magazine is published monthly by Newsfield Ltd. [redacted]\r\n\r\nSubscriptions [redacted]\r\nEditorial/studio [redacted]\r\nAdvertising [redacted]\r\n\r\nColour origination by Scan Studios, [redacted]; Printed in England by Carlisle Web Offset Ltd (Member of the BPCC Group), [redacted].\r\nDistribution by COMAG, [redacted]\r\n\r\nSubscriptions: 12 issues £14.50 post included (UK Mainland); Europe: 12 issues £21.50 post included. Outside Europe by arrangement in writing.\r\n\r\nNo material may be reproduced whole or in part without written consent of the copyright holders. We cannot undertake to return any written material sent to CRASH Magazine unless accompanied by a suitably stamped addressed envelope. Unsolicited written or photo material which may be used in the magazine is paid for at our current rates. The opinions and views of correspondents are their own and not necessarily in accord with those of the publishers.\r\n\r\nMICRONET:\r\nYou can talk to CRASH via Micronet. Our MBX is 105845851\r\n\r\nCover by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"AUSTERLITZ\r\n\r\nProducer: Lothlorien\r\nRetail Price: £9.95\r\n\r\nImagine a cold December morning in 1807. Around 150,000 men are gathered on the field of battle before some of the most powerful leaders of Europe - and you have Austerlitz, Lothlorien's successor to Waterloo in their solo Warmaster series.\r\n\r\nThe packaging for Austerlitz is the same 'video case' affair that graced their previous effort. Inside the beautiful case, there's the usual manual and cassette. I was given photostats of the manual pages, as the finished booklet has not yet gone to print. However, as with Waterloo, the finished instructions will be in a slim, glossy A5 size booklet. In fact, much of the layout and text has been lifted from the previous game, as both use the same rules system.\r\n\r\nThe manual provides all the details on the mechanics of play, historical notes to accompany the game itself and character sketches of Napoleon's Corps Commanders (a brilliant idea which unfortunately couldn't be incorporated in Waterloo). All the instructions are clear and concise and within minutes of reading them you should be able to begin the game.\r\n\r\nAusterlitz has three levels of difficulty. The first is a training level to allow you to become accustomed to the game. If you are familiar with the system (as I was after playing Waterloo for ages), this level ails to provide serious competition. However, do not under-estimate the difficulty of other levels. The second is the standard game which takes some time to achieve a good result on, but the third alters some of the setup conditions pertaining to the efficiency of the Austro-Russian forces (otherwise known as the computer), in order to create a very difficult situation for the French.\r\n\r\nOnce the game level has been selected, the battlefield is displayed. This is approximately four times the size of the screen display and can be viewed by scrolling with the cursor keys (making use of a scrolling routine that would grace many an arcade game, at that). The player's units (French) are displayed in blue whilst the Austro-Russians are shown in yellow. Terrain features are simply, but adequately defined and the only new feature is the frozen lake - a nasty affair which should be avoided at all costs (unless you can force the enemy onto it).\r\n\r\nMany of the other details of the game come directly from its predecessor; infantry and cavalry actions only; terrain effects on movement; unit display and movement and combat procedure. Units are displayed as character blocks with crossed swords for cavalry and a rifle for infantry. Whether or not they are Commanders is also shown, as is the Corps they belong to. If desired, unit strength and morale may be shown (although strength only is revealed for enemy units). Combat is automatic, given that one or more units have entered an enemy zone of control (one adjacent character block on any facing from an enemy unit).\r\n\r\nOne of the interesting ideas employed in the game is the use of limited intelligence. This is to simulate the early mists that clung to the battlefield on that December morning and added so much confusion to the battlefield. After the first turn, only those units spotted by your advanced units or those encountered before combat, are revealed. Otherwise, during the computer's turn, 'blank squares' may be seen to begin to move to simulate partial awareness of the Austro-Russian dispositions. Otherwise, you're in the dark.\r\n\r\nGame turns consist of giving orders to all your units and then entering them in one command, to the computer. Before entering your command sequence, moves for any unit may be changed at will. French movement and combat sequences follow, after which the computer's turn takes place using the same format. It's during your movement phase that various Corps commanders may offer alternative courses of action. Indeed it may be the case that they are more fully aware of the situation in that area than you, and to begin with, their advice is extremely useful. In more sophisticated games, however, be sure to read the character sketches from the manual. On one occasion, a commander who had been involved in very heavy fighting was down to his last five hundred men when he suggested that rather than retreat to a nearby hill, as I had ordered, he could intercept a 6,000 man infantry unit. On checking the notes, they referred to him as 'incapable of individual command' but 'personally brave: wounded 34 times in combat'.\r\n\r\nThe game looks almost identical to its predecessor and its aesthetic features are deliberately so. But as with all good wargames, the subtleties of the game are vastly different. Austerlitz plays well and makes an excellent addition to Waterloo. This is another goodie. Get it when you can.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"180,181","Denied":false,"Award":"Crash Smash","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Sean Masterson","Score":"93","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"The enemy's forces gather on the right of the screen. Never mind the quantity though, what about the quality?"}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Presentation","Score":"90%","Text":"Up to the standard now expected of the Warmaster series"},{"Header":"Rules","Score":"87%","Text":"The character sketches are an excellent addition to an already superb set of rules"},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"87%","Text":"Very user friendly"},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"92%","Text":"Uncluttered, appealing display"},{"Header":"Authenticity","Score":"90%","Text":"An excellent simulation"},{"Header":"Value For Money","Score":"95%","Text":"Hardly a byte of unused code"},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"93%","Text":"Character sketches and limited intelligence make this better than Waterloo. If Lothlorien keep going like this, my ratings will not be able to do them justice"}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 4, Apr 1986","Price":"£0.95","ReleaseDate":"1986-03-13","Editor":"Kevin Cox","TotalPages":98,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Kevin Cox\r\nArt Editor: Martin Dixon\r\nDeputy Editor: Teresa Maughan\r\nProduction Editor: Sara Biggs\r\nDesigner: Caroline Clayton\r\nTechnical Consultant: Peter Shaw\r\nEditorial Consultant: Andrew Pennell\r\nSoftware Consultant: Gavin Monk\r\nContributors: Stephen Adams, Luke C, Steve Colwill, Steve Cooke, Iolo Davidson, Tim Hartnell, Ian Hoare, Gwyn Hughes, Steve Malone, Max Phillips, Rick Robson, Rachael Smith, Phil South, Chris Wood\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Mark Salmon\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Neil Dyson\r\nProduction Manager: Sonia Hunt\r\nGroup Advertisement Manager: Chris Talbot\r\nManaging Editor: Roger Munford\r\nPublisher: Stephen England\r\n\r\nPublished by Sportscene Specialist Press Ltd, [redacted] Company registered in England.\r\nTypesetters: Carlinpoint [redacted]\r\nReproduction: Graphic Ideas, London\r\nPrinters: Chase Web Offset [redacted]\r\nDistribution: Seymour Press [redacted]\r\n\r\nAll material in Your Sinclair ©1986 Felden Productions, and may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the written consent of the publishers. Your Sinclair is a monthly publication."},"MainText":"Lothlorien\n£9.95\nReviewer: Max Phillips\n\nI thought Austerlitz was a station in Paris. It turns out it's named after Napoleon's cracking victory over the third allied attempt to stomp on him. Incidentally, on that cold, misty morning in 1805, it was Russia and Austria that suffered the away defeat: our mob didn't manage to turn up!\n\nThis is the scene for the latest in Lothlorien's very collectable series of trad wargames. You attempt to repeat Napoleon's formidable victory by pitching your well-trained troops against the slightly larger but less effective Austro-Russian army and killing as many of them as possible.\n\nIt's all done as well as usual; there's a scrolling board (only a little larger than the screen) and square pieces marked with their type, number, morale and so on. The game's made much more playable because your Corp commanders are intelligent and will look after their chunk of the battle and offer reports and advice to you until you want to take over direct command of their units. Lothlorien also avoids 'eyes-in-the-sky' by making the Russian's disappear when they move. You'll only locate them when you meet them!\n\nEntering orders from the keyboard is a bit fiddly and tedious but not so bad that it'll put wargamers off. What worries me is that it's all a bit in Boneys favour; you aren't fighting a losing battle. Still, I suppose it's the same when you play Welly in Waterloo. What I want to know is do the French think Waterloo is a station in London?","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"64","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Max Phillips","Score":"7","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"5/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"6/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Value For Money","Score":"6/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictiveness","Score":"6/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"7/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 47, Feb 1986","Price":"£0.95","ReleaseDate":"1986-01-18","Editor":"Bill Scolding","TotalPages":130,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Bill Scolding\r\nDeputy Editor: John Gilbert\r\nStaff Writers: Chris Bourne, Clare Edgeley\r\nDesigner: Gareth Jones\r\nEditorial Secretary: Norisah Fenn\r\nAdventure Writers: Richard Price, Gordo Greatbelly\r\nHelpline: Andrew Hewson\r\nHardware Correspondent: John Lambert\r\nBusiness Correspondent: Mike Wright\r\nContributors: Nicole Segre, Jerry Muir, Megan Jones, Marcus Jeffrey\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Louise Fanthorpe\r\nDeputy Advertisement Manager: Shahid Nizam\r\nAdvertisement Sales Executive: Kathy McLennan\r\nProduction Assistant: Jim McClure\r\nAdvertisement Secretary: Linda Everest\r\nSubscriptions Manager: Carl Dunne\r\nPublisher: Neil Wood\r\n\r\nTelephone [redacted]\r\n\r\nSinclair User is published monthly by EMAP Business & Computer Publications\r\n\r\nCover Illustration: Paul Barnes for Digital Integration\r\n\r\nIf you would like to contribute to Sinclair User please send programs or articles to:\r\nSinclair User\r\nEMAP Business & Computer Publications\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nOriginal programs should be on cassette and articles should be typed. Please write 'Program Printout' on the envelopes of all cassettes submitted. We pay £20 for each program printed and £50 for star programs.\r\n\r\nTypeset by Saffron Graphics Ltd, [redacted]\r\nPrinted by Peterboro' Web, [redacted]\r\nDistributed by EMAP Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\n©Copyright 1986 Sinclair User ISSN No 0262-5458\r\n\r\nABC 102,023 Jan-June 1985"},"MainText":"Publisher: Lothlorien\r\nProgrammer: Ken Wright\r\nPrice: £9.95\r\nMemory: 48K\r\n\r\nIt was the morning of December 2, 1805. Exactly one year earlier Napoleon had been crowned Emperor of France. The hostility of other European powers to the expansionist ruler had resulted in various alliances, the most recent of which was the Third Coalition. Napoleon's response was typically aggressive. He had already scored military victories but needed a yet more decisive demonstration of his might.\r\n\r\nAusterlitz the game is a prequel to Lothlorien's Waterloo; a one player war game that gives you a chance to play the Napoleonic side for a change. The French player has to contain the Allied armies, dealing as much damage as possible and avoiding unnecessary loss of life.\r\n\r\nThe game ends if the Austro-Russian army reaches the left hand border with at least 7,500 men or when losses reduce either side to six units or less, or under 20,000 men.\r\n\r\nYou can't afford to get carried away with the prowess of your troops because the mists which hung over the battlefield that morning created confusion as to where the enemy was, and the computer reproduces that by hiding the movement of Allied units until they are in the proximity of your troops.\r\n\r\nYou can't afford to leave a gate open anywhere, and it's wise to use your faster moving cavalry to scout around areas where you think you may locate the Alliance, using the scrolling of the map to give you clues. It's probably also worth holding one or two units to move to trouble spots.\r\n\r\nThe map is in traditional wargame style, with the units represented by coloured blocks, the computer equivalent of cardboard counters. Every effort has been made to make it as large and clear as possible, so that it must be scrolled four ways to see the whole area, but the overlap isn't so great as to make you lose touch with what's happening elsewhere.\r\n\r\nThere are three main types of terrain - plain ground, ridges and frozen lakes - with streams, towns and castles dotted around. A strip along the bottom of the screen provides a menu for the single key command inputs, and messages appear in a separate overlayed window as necessary.\r\n\r\nOnce you've scrolled your way around the field you summon up a square cursor and choose a unit - a pity there's no joystick option for this. You can then look at details of morale and strength or the underlying terrain, or you can make a command.\r\n\r\nThose can be on two levels. On the corps level you have a more sophisticated choice of options for each of the six corps commanders, such as movement, engage the enemy, retreat fast or withdraw.\r\n\r\nThe commander will take the three units under his command with him, though he may see fit to challenge your decision if it brings him into contact with the Alliance or results in heavy losses. At first it's wise not to overrule these objections as the commanders have more up-to-date information than you and a degree of intelligence.\r\n\r\nThe other level of command is to control individual units, and though that is slower it is necessary to regroup corps or draw up battle lines. You then exit the command mode and sit back to watch the blue blocks move in turn around the map.\r\n\r\nCombat is resolved, with corps flashing as they take losses, the scale of which is displayed to the nearest 500. After which the computer takes its turn at moving and combat.\r\n\r\nThis is all very much the stuff of traditional wargames. In fact, apart from the hidden movement this could almost be a board game, though at least the computer takes care of all the book-keeping and calculations. However, I can't see it winning many friends among the uninitiated, who will probably find it rather slow. Not that the response times are slow - it's just that not a lot seems to happen. The whole thing may prove rather confusing too, and maybe it was a feature of the artificial intelligence, but I'm sure that one of my commanders was disobeying orders.\r\n\r\nWhile it avoids the pitfalls of many early micro wargames Austerlitz is still far from perfect and it would be nice to see more originality taken in approaching this genre. Nevertheless, those who are interested in military problem-solving should enjoy challenging it at any of its three levels of difficulty.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"50","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Jerry Muir","Score":"3","ScoreSuffix":"/5"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"3/5","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"C&VG (Computer & Video Games) Issue 61, Nov 1986","Price":"£98","ReleaseDate":"1986-10-16","Editor":"Tim Metcalfe","TotalPages":140,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Tim Metcalfe\r\nDeputy Editor: Paul Boughton\r\nEditorial Assistant: Lesley Walker\r\nSub-Editor: Seamus St. John\r\nDesign: Craig Kennedy\r\nAdventure Writers: Keith Campbell, Paul Coppins, Steve Donoghue\r\nAmerican Correspondent: Marshall M. Rosenthal\r\nArcades: Clare Edgeley\r\nSoftware Consultant: Tony Takoushi\r\nPublicity: Marcus Rich\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Garry Williams\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Katherine Lee\r\nAd Production: Debbie Pearson\r\nPublisher: Rita Lewis\r\nCover: Gary Ward\r\n\r\nEditorial and Advertisement Offices: [redacted]\r\n\r\nJuly-December 98,258"},"MainText":"MACHINE: Spectrum/CBM64/Amstrad\r\nSUPPLIER: Lothlorien\r\nPRICE: £9.95 (Cass), £14.95 (disk)\r\n\r\nThe sun of Autsterlitz rose over this battlefield in modern Czechoslovakia on 2nd December 1805 to show, through the morning mist, 80,000 troops of an Austrian-Russian Alliance confronting 70,000 under the great Emperor Napoleon.\r\n\r\nBy the end of the day the Allies were in headlong retreat, and Napoleon had won what is always regarded as his greatest victory. He won it with superior training of his troops, with superior manoeuvrability, with superior co-ordination of infantry, cavalry and artillery, and above all with the superior leadership of Marshals of France, each commanding one of the six Corps of his army.\r\n\r\nThe side that won took the offensive and carried the fight to the enemy.\r\n\r\nThe Lothlorien game which bears the same name as the battle offers none of these features, at least in the Spectrum version which I tried. No artillery is shown, and cavalry fight in exactly the same manner as infantry. The combat mechanism (given in full in the booklet) gives the greatest advantage to troops holding defensive positions, and the only way to win with the French is to place them behind river lines.\r\n\r\nThere is a very promising system of devolved command, whereby the player as Napoleon gives outline orders to his Corps commanders, who use their own initiative and personalities in carrying them out.\r\n\r\nBut it simply doesn't work. Marshals of France attack superior numbers with fractions of their own forces, march in the wrong direction, and generally behave in a manner which would get them all reduced to corporal, if that, in about five minutes. The computer-controlled enemy, on the other hand, shows a persistence and desire to fight well above that of the real Allies.\r\n\r\nAny resemblance between the Austerlitz and the battle of the same name, or any other Napoleonic battle, is a co-incidence. It doesn't even feel like a wargame.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"43","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Dr Stephen Badsy","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"5/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"3/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Realism","Score":"1/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Value","Score":"2/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"ZX Computing Issue 28, Aug 1986","Price":"£1.5","ReleaseDate":"1986-07-24","Editor":"Bryan Ralph","TotalPages":100,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Bryan Ralph\r\nAssistant Editor: Cliff Joseph\r\nConsultant Editor: Ray Elder\r\nAdvertising Managers: Peter Chandler and John McGarry\r\nDesign: Argus Design\r\nA.S.P. Advertising and Editorial [redacted]\r\n\r\nPrinted by Alabaster Passmore and Sons Ltd. [redacted]\r\n\r\nAdvertisement Copy Controller: Lynn Collis\r\n\r\nDistributed by: Argus Press Sales and Distribution Ltd, [redacted]\r\n\r\nZX Computing Monthly is published on the fourth Friday of each month. Subscription rates can be obtained from ZX Subscriptions, [redacted]\r\n\r\nThe contents of this publication, including all articles, designs plans, drawings and other intellectual property rights herein belong to Argus Specialist Publications Limited. All rights conferred by the law of Copyright and other intellectual property rights and by virtue of international copyright conventions are specifically reserved to Argus Specialist Publications Limited and any reproduction requires the prior written consent of the company.\r\n\r\nArgus Specialist Publications Limited. ©1986"},"MainText":"Lothlorien\r\n£9.95\r\nSpectrum 128\r\n\r\nAusterlitz on the other hand shows how a good wargame should be presented. A large clear display with a well produced instruction booklet and an excellent game to boot. In 1805, Napoleon had manoeuvred his army to Austerlitz where, although heavily outnumbered, he sought to inflict a decisive defeat on the combined forces of the Austro-Russian army. That he did, mainly because his army was much more highly trained and he had better commanders, is a matter of historical record. What you must do is prove that you too possess the strategic and tactical skills of Napoleon. And in case you get too confident, there are three different skill levels to test you even further.\r\n\r\nThere are two main features in the game that make it notable. The first is that you have intelligent corps commanders and so can leave a lot of the minor tactics to them (you can also assume total control if you so desire or any combination of the two). The second major feature is that in order to simulate the confusion of battle, there is hidden movement by the Austro-Russian forces. Thus, whilst you can see their initial disposition of forces, as soon as they move, you have no idea of their whereabouts until you rediscover them by combat or intelligence.\r\n\r\nThe mechanics of the game are fairly standard and feature different terrain types, morale factors and victory conditions. Terrain is important for two main reasons. Firstly it affects how fast a unit can move through it and secondly, it can also affect the results of combat - it is a lot easier to defend a ridge than a frozen lake or marsh. Morale too is a vital factor. Combat strength is worked out on a basis of 500 men = 1 strength point so that a unit of 4500 men would have 9 strength points. If morale is absolutely abysmal, there is no adjustment, but if it is excellent, then that particular unit can get a +6 strength bonus which effectively means another 3000 men.\r\n\r\nAusterlitz is a superbly presented game. The instructions are clear and the booklet also provides a brief summary of the actual historical situation, pen pictures of Napoleon's commanders and a reading list for people who get really interested in the historical aspects. If Napoleon had had this game to play, I can certainly see why he would be saying \"not tonight Josephine\".","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"42","Denied":false,"Award":"Globella","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"Great","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]