Messines: 1917

Scale is 240 yards per hex and each unit is a battalion or regiment. There are also some German companies for the front trenches. There are two 13x19" maps with over 200 counters. There are two rules books - standard rules that are 5 pages and Messines:1917 rules that run another 4 pages. There are two scenarios - first day and campaign. Artillery is the centerpiece of the game with four different types of bombardment (saturation, standard, intermittent, and gas) possible. There are three types of guns - field, medium, and heavy with each best suited to certain roles. For Messines the addition of mines makes initial set up and play a real chess match. The key to victory is correct deployment and effective use of reserves. For the Allies, one of the key decisions is how much to bombard. It is very effective but it also destroys the drainage systems of the area and leads to a quagmire that with eliminated possibilities. For the German player, commitment of reserves is the key. He has to guess correctly at the main points of attack by the British player before they have sufficiently evolved to make the attack plan apparent.