Johnny Reb II comes marching in Was Johnny Reb the first real wargame simulation for the Spectrum? Probably, but who can remember from this point in history? But whatever the chronological order of things might be, Lothlorien's name remains in the forefront of wargame software writers. This new program drags that great old game into the modern ora. while the essential details remain the same.  
Gameplay takes place in the American Civil War, and follows the efforts of a strong Confederate force sweeping from left to right of the play area, attempting to break through a lighter Union force (ie, move from screen left and exit screen right with fewer casualties than the defending force). As in the original, a river runs from north to south, and the Confederates must cross this hazard under fire from the defending Union troops. The default set-up is pretty bare, with just a couple of hills and roads, plus some houses; but the new version allows the player (or players) to create fences, walls and buildings at will, although the landscape must remain the same. Similarly, the composition and names of both forces can be tailored to the players' requirements. To reflect the ad hoc makeup of the opposing armies in the conflict (drawn from both regular soldiers and raw recruits), units possess several degrees of strength, experience and morale, which change as the battle commences. Four types of units are available to both sides, namely, artillery, infantry, cavalry and supply. Play is via joystick or cursor keys (which can be re-defined) - as the 'cursor box' is moved over a unit, the details of that unit are displayed, and a range of options available, including orders to move (firing or not), dig in. charge and so on. Graphics are large and very well drawn, and there is a green screen option Instructions are adequate, though no mention is made of how to save a game in progress.
though trial and error will tell you that you can break in to a menu at certain stages. Beware. however, of saving to a disc - for some reason, the disc is re-formatted (without warning) to IBM format! Overall, not very demanding, but the re-design facility will ensure that the life of the game can be greatly extended and more and more complex situations set up. Tony Bridge , Popular Computing Weekly | 
