A FIRST IMPRESSION By Jon Stout Good evening, my friends and future adversaries. I am here to give you my first impressions on WC from the viewpoint of a NEWBEE (Yea, I've got fresh meat stenciled on my forehead), but first I'll tell you a little about myself... My name is Jon Stout (aka Dan Blather in the Simcorium Systems Bi- Monthly). I am 27 and a player-of-many-games, but alas, master of none. In the past 14 years, I have gamed PBM, RPG, live RPG, and something similar to paint-ball, but using Lazer-Tag. In short, I AM a gaming addict in the highest degree... I first found out about WC through an ad in Simcorium's Bi-Monthly. Mark Van Roosenthal (the editor and moderator for Simcorium) is a long-standing advocate of eliminating the "siege mentality" that is held by many PBM companies, and often has advertisements in his magazine. The WC advertisement intrigued me, since I noticed the similarities between WC and "Empire" (I loved "Empire"), so I sent off to PTS so that I could see what the game was like. The next three weeks went by slowly, and then I had the WC rules and the 2 most recent issues of the WC Newsletter, and my first turn! The first thing that impressed me was the rulebook. The rules were arranged in a logical fashion and contained BOTH versions of the rules (WC and MWC). This is quite nice, since I don't have to wait for another separate rulebook in order to play MWC. I can start as soon as I feel ready to do so. The language used in the rules does have quite a few technical terms, but the glossary and unit descriptions explain the terms in simple, plain language (Thank the GODS!!). This means that you do not need to familiarize yourself with an entirely new dialect of the English language in order to understand the rules. Also, the rulebook is designed to endure several YEARS of normal use. The rulebook's construction is such that it is extremely difficult to separate the pages (you need a crowbar to do this) in order to punch the holes needed to include the book in a three ring binder. To be honest, it took me a half of an hour to do this... The turn sheets are laid in such a fashion that it is easy to understand them. Also, the cover sheet which tells you the status of your units is the same sheet you send in with your orders. (To be fair, not everyone likes this Jon. -Bill Rapp) The other sheets in your turn info contain such things like spotting reports, storm activity, messages, and a map of your explored territory. The map's symbology is extremely clear and concise; the only problem with the map is that the fact that the friendly and enemy unit icons are somewhat difficult to see on some of the territories of the map. On the other hand, the coordinate system is clear enough that you can locate your units without much trouble. This works out well enough, so it's not really all that much of a problem unless you don't read all of your turn sheets... In that case, you deserve what you get! All in all, my first impressions of WC is one of extreme like. I like the challenge posed by endurance and supply considerations. I like the fact that PTS is honest in recommending to it's potential customers that it is strongly recommended that you play at least 4 turns of WC before attempting MWC. It's also nice that the rulebook can handle a lot of punishment and that the rules are written in an extremely clear manner. I have played 3 turns of Game (omitted) and I must admit that I like the game system. I will sum this article up with a hearty "I'm real impressed" and will see you'all in the bid for WORLD CONQUEST!!