The Russian Campaign 1941 - 45 Manual and Scenario Booklet

THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN 1941 - 45 MANUAL AND SCENARIO BOOKLET

The basic game p. 3 The optional rules THE SCENARIOS p. 21 1.0 The game components p. 3 17.0 Mountais p. 16 2.0 Setup p. 3 18.0 Jericho trompete p. 16 3.0 Basic definitions p. 3 19.0 Panzers attack! p. 16 4.0 Supply p. 5 20.0 Air recon p. 16 5.0 The powers p. 6 21.0 Scorched earth p. 17 6.0 The units p. 7 22.0 New factories p. 17 7.0 Sequence of play p. 8 23.0 Partisans p. 17 8.0 The combat phase p. 10 24.0 Garrisons p. 17 9.0 The blitz phase p. 12 25.0 Axis first winter p. 18 10.0 Armor exploitation p. 13 26.0 Ekaterina bm13 p. 18 11.0 The victory phase p. 13 27.0 Gustav siege gun p. 18 28.0 Strategic bombing p. 18 29.0 Lend lease p. 19 30.0 Strategic warfare p. 19 31.0 Airborne assault p. 19 The advanced game p. 13 32.0 Amphibious assault p. 19 12.0 The weather p. 13 33.0 Naval movement p. 20 13.0 Elite units p. 14 34.0 Reserve units p. 20 14.0 Advanced production p. 14 35.0 Italy surrenders p. 20 15.0 Advanced supply p. 14 36.0 Iran joins axis p. 21 16.0 Movement & fuel p. 15 37.0 Mairbeck sheripov p. 21 38.0 Tech levels p. 21 credits

The BLOCKS IN THE EAST’s basic concept was developed by Emanuele Santandrea starting from 2009, after over 30 years spent playing wargames. However, many other people have contributed in developing the final version of the game. Special Thanks go to:

Silvia Grazioli . 45gradi Riccardo Gatti Andrea ‘’Fù Fù Scipione’’ Tadini Head of Brand Care Cover Art Alpha Tester

Anna Castellano Davide ‘’White’’ Franchin Davide ‘’Zap’’ Zapparoli Business Strategist Product Development & Supplier Alpha Tester

Marina Cattaneo . 45gradi Ben Curtis Emanuele Marchetti Head of Promotion Linguistic Consultant Alpha Tester

Monica Achilli Marco ‘’Slayer’’ Sbarra Davide Rondini Game Development, Beta Tester Alpha Tester Alpha Tester and Cheerleader Niccolò ‘’Murdock’’ Villa Davide ‘’Ing.’’ Ferrario Elena “Tempest” Carrettoni Alpha Tester Alpha Tester Italian Translation Eastfront.org Antonio ‘’Tonino’’ Santandrea Teresa Piardi . 45gradi Quality Assurance Manager Graphic Layout Jordan Finley Artist Marcello ‘’Wave’’ Ruscio Game Development Fabio Loglisci and Head of Beta Testing Alpha tester

Matteo ‘’Grayfox’’ Fiorino Alessandro Montel Game Development Business Consultant and Head of Alpha Testing P 3

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 2.0 SETUP On 22 June 1941, under the codeword BASIC GAME Dortmund, the German Wehrmacht Side Selection started the invasion of the Soviet 1.0 THE GAME COMPONENTS At the beginning of the game, players Union. The following components are used for choose randomly or by mutual agre- playing the game. ement who controls the Soviets and Some components (*) are not needed who the Axis. for playing the Basic Game. Game Setup • N° 2 86x62cm laminated map-boards Place the Turn Tracker Token on the • N° 1 24 Pages Manual “June 1941” box of the Turn Record • N° 148 wooden red blocks Chart. • N° 143 wooden black blocks • N° 6 wooden green blocks 3.0 BASIC DEFINITIONS • N° 7 wooden blocks The following rules are used many ti- • N° 304 laminated PVC stickers mes in several different Phases and • N° 60 wooden yellow cubes Steps of a Turn. They have been • N° 10 plastic white cylinders grouped here to avoid repetition. • N° 20 wooden red cubes * BLOCKS IN THE EAST recalls, in game • N° 20 wooden blue cubes * Controlling Player / Enemy form, the most decisive battles fought • N° 20 plastic black cylinders * A player always moves the units of his in the Eastern Front from the begin- • N° 20 Green Removable Stickers* side, and is, therefore, the “controlling ning of the invasion in Summer 1941, •• N° 20 Orange Removable Stickers* player” for his own units and territory. until the dramatic end in Berlin in • N° 10 Black Removable Stickers* Whenever the rules refer to units mo- Spring 1945. • N° 20 Red Removable Stickers* ving, this means that the controlling BLOCKS IN THE EAST is a game for • N° 20 Blue Removable Stickers * player is the one moving them. What two/four players, one/two control the • N° 1 Turn Tracker Token a player does not control is defined as Soviet Red Army and the other one/ • N° 7 dice the “enemy”. two control the Axis Powers. Although based on history, players in The Mapboard Phasing/non Phasing Player command of the two factions can mo- The map-board shows the area in The “phasing player” is the player cur- dify the evolution of World War 2 on which the Eastern Front campaign rently performing the phases (Axis or the Eastern Front. was fought. Soviet Phases) for his side. A hexagonal grid on the map regulates Thus, the Axis player is the phasing RULES INTRODUCTION movement and allows the precise po- player during the Axis Phases, and the The rules are divided into three major sitioning of the units. Individual hexa- Soviet player is the phasing player du- sections which can be learned one at gons are called “hexes”. ring the Soviet Phases. a time. Terrain is simplified and adapted to The player who is not the phasing play- The first section is the BASIC GAME conform to the hex grid. er is the “non-phasing” player RULES which introduces the basic In the upper right corner of the Mapbo- concepts and enables players to start ard, there’s the TURN RECORD CHART Cities, Production Centres playing the game without too many used to record the current Turn and and Factories Hex Control rules to remember. the weather. Once a ground unit enters and/or pas- Then the ADVANCED GAME RULES ses through a city, Production Centres provide more specific and detailed The Unit Counters or oilfield hex, that hex is immediately rules for an enhanced realism, such as 304 wooden blocks of contrasting conquered. Conquered enemy factori- the use of Fuel and the Advanced Pro- colors are provided for playing of the es are destroyed once captured. duction System. game. These are the game’s playing Finally, for those players who want to pieces and are called “units”. City get the best out of the game, OPTIO- Also 221 wooden cubes and plastic There are 6 types of cities. NAL RULES can be added as desired. cylinders are provided as a comple- The Optional Rules include Technology ment for the game. They are used for Research, Strategic warfare over Ger- production, supply status, technology man factories and U-Boot Campaign research… in the Atlantic Ocean, Amphibious In- vasions, Parachute Assaults… Fog Of War The game can be played with the Fog Scale of War on (wooden blocks are placed A hexagon is approximately 53 miles (70 on the map in such a way the oppo- Km) across. A turn is 1 month long. nent player can not see them) OR A full strength counter represents 300 with Fog of War OFF (all units are vi- planes, 300 Tanks, or 30,000 men, de- sible). pending on the type unit, equipment and nationality. P 4

• Capital City hex has a big red dot (i.e. Headquarters (hq) Units Moscow) Each Power has its own Supreme • Fortress City hex has an orange bor- Leader. der and a Fortress Icon (i.e. Leningrad) • Victory City hex has a special icon (i.e. Moscow has the Kremlin). • Major City hex has a big orange dot (i.e. Kalinin) Armor, Air and Soviet Navy HQ are not • Minor City hex have a yellow dot (i.e. used in the BASIC GAME. Rubinsk) Stacking A maximum of 4 units may be sta- Historical Battle Locations have cked in the same hex. However, no a small black/yellow dot. These more than one air unit may use a city hexes (i.e. Demyansk/Uman) have as an airbase hex, and no more then 3 no special functions at all in the ground units can stack in the same hex, game. They have been added of which maximum 2 can be ground only for historical note. combat units. When attacking or defending, players may use 1 more air unit to support Airbase combat (usually 1 fighter plus 1 bom- Planes must land in an airfield where ber). they can be re-fuelled, re-armed and eventually repaired. Steps Every unit has a combat strength de- Siberia and off Map Boxes pending on how many steps the unit There are 5 OFF-MAP BOXES in the has. When involved in combat, a unit game: Narvik, Tromso, Petsamo, Mur- rolls as many dice as steps they have. mansk and Siberia. These special areas are just too far Action Points from the playing area to be represen- HQs have special Steps called Action ted in the game as an hex, even if all Points which are repaired as steps are, the rules applied to hexes also apply to but, instead of rolling dice, they allow OFF-MAP BOXES. the HQ to perform as many actions as Action Points the HQ has. Murmansk is Forest Terrain and is rail and land connected to the map (Kan- Tech Level tahalati), while it is only land con- defines how much training, experience nected to Petsamo. and consequently firepower/ Move- An airfield is any controlled Fortress, ment Points/ Special Ability a unit has. Petsamo is Forest terrain and is rail Major and Minor City hex that could Tech Level has nothing to do with unit and land connected to the map (Salla) serve as a supply source. step. and also land connected to Tromso. No more than 1 air unit may use the HIGHER TECH LEVELS are reached same airbase hex. with research, by spending a certain Tromso is Mountain Terrain and is land amount of resources for several turns. connected to Narvik too, but has no Railways However The Research Rule is not kind of connection to the map. Are major rail lines mainly used for used when playing the Basic Game. supply and Strategic Rail Movement. Finally Narvik is Mountain Terrain and Firepower has a both land/rail connection to the Production Centres Firepower is the ability of a unit to hit map (Gallivare). There are 3 types of productions cen- the enemy. Units usually hit at 6, while tres. Armors have a better Firepower: they Siberia is Forest Terrain and is rail con- However, in the basic game, only Yel- hit at 5 and 6. nected to the map through 5 rail gau- low Production Points are used. Yellow Fighters usually have a better Defen- ges: Nihzny Tagil, Sverdlovsk, Chelya- PP are generated by Population Cen- sive Firepower than Bombers, while binsk, Magnitogorsk and Chalov. tres (some Major Cities) and Mining Bombers often have a better Offensive Centres ( those hex with a Mine Trolley Firepower than fighters. Combat Units Icon) All units capable to attack alone are A black number indicates how many Hits combat units. yellow PP those hexes generate each Hits are applied immediately after the HQ (Headquarters) and Artillery Units turn. die-roll, by reducing unit’s steps. Redu- are not combat units, thus they are cing a unit’s steps is done by rotating support units. the unit counterclockwise as many ti- P 5

mes as needed to fulfil the number of tions without any real combat effi- lane of maximum 3 hexes to a supply hits suffered. ciency. During the war, they have been source. A unit that cannot trace a “sup- I.e. a German 4-step infantry needs 4 used mainly for anti-partisan duty and ply lane” to a friendly supply source, is hits to be destroyed, while 1 hit only therefore they are not used at all in the “out of supply” and is marked with a causes the unit to be reduced to 3-step BASIC GAME. White (empty) Plastic Barrel. strength. The supply lane must be 3 hexes long The strongest unit must be reduced Marines and Paratroopers maximum and can be traced throu- first. In the Basic Game these units are tre- gh any land terrain (except mountain If two units have the same strength, ated exactly like other infantry units – hexes), but not through any hex oc- the owner chooses. they have no special capabilities. cupied by an opposing ground unit, Note that some units (for example the not through any hex in an opposing Soviet Red Guards 7-steps Infantry First turn Finnish, Rumanian ground unit’s zone of control or throu- Unit) must suffer 2 hits to be reduced. and Hungarian Neutrality gh an all-water hex. During Turn 1, the Hungarian units re- Fractions main in Hungary, the Romanian units When halving Movement Points and remain in Romania and the Finnish Attack Strength, fractions are always units remain in Finland. None of these rounded down. units can move (they are FROZEN). The same restrictions apply to ALL Minimum Fire Soviet units inside the Leningrad and Even if rounded down and reduced to the Odessa Military District (White and fractions below 1, units always roll at Orange Dotted Units) least 1 die. These restrictions end on Turn 2. However Romanian air units are free

Minimum Movement to perform flying and combat missions / Bernd Settnik. Bild 183-1990-0518-028 Barch, Even if rounded down and reduced to over Soviet territory as German air fractions below 1, units always have at units based in Romania do. Effects of Being Out of Supply least 1 Movement Point. Supplied combat units perform nor- Battle Hex mally. Zones of Control Combat in BITE occurs when a player All units marked with Out of Supply All ground and air units have a “zone moves his units into a hex occupied by White Barrel cannot receive replace- of control”. Zones of control represent enemy units. ment of any kind during the Produc- a degree of control of adjacent hexes In some situations, when many bat- tion Phase, have their Movement Point by a ground unit. A unit’s zone of con- tles occur in adjacent hexes, it could (MP) halved, and cannot attack during trol normally consists of all six surroun- be helpful marking these battle hexes the Combat Phase. ding adjacent hexes, if unoccupied by with a spare counter and removing the Out of supply air units may be used enemy units. combat units from the hex and placing only to make a transfer movement but them in an unused space on the map. at half range. Any unit marked as out of supply 4.0 SUPPLY which are still unsupplied by the Final Military forces require vast amounts of Supply Check, is forced to surrender supplies – food, ammunition, fuel - and is eliminated from play. The supply is checked at the beginning of the turn and, if supplied at that time, Surrender units remain in action at full effects for Each Out of Supply unit, surrendering Units in a battle hex immediately lose the entire turn. during the Final Supply Check, grants their zones of control. Also, a unit’s 1 PP to the enemy and then is remo- zone of control does not extend across Main Supply Sources ved from the mapboard. It can still be deep-water hexsides or across straits The national supply source is Siberia rebuilt in a successive Production Pha- or into all-water lake, sea, or water por- and Baku – not Moscow - for the So- se. This simulates the effect that the tions of coastal hexes. viets, Berlin for the Germans, Bratisla- enemy can use some of the captured va for Slovaks, Helsinki for the Finns, equipment, vehicles, aircrafts, wea- Effects of Zones of Control Bucharest for the Romanians, Buda- pons and manpower for its own army. Zones of control affect hex control, pest for the Hungarians and Milano for supply routes, retreats, and strategic the Italians). movement. Other Supply Source Axis Powers Any rail/port hex directly connected to Axis forces consist of Germany plus it by rail/sea is a supply source itself. her allies: Italy, Romania, Finland, Hun- gary and Slovakia. Out of Supply Units Slovaks and German Security RHG. To be in supply, units, at the beginning Units: These units are corps forma- of their turn, must be able to trace a P 6

5.0 THE POWERS Axis Minors Ally hope to have some from Germany. In middle of 1941, Italians, Romanians, However eliminated units cannot be Soviet union Hungarians and Slovaks did not have rebuilt and are permanently removed the same combat strength and expe- from play. rience of the German forces. Italians may only enter Yugoslavia, Po- Troops were generally poorly trained land and Soviet Union south of the Gre- en Dot Line. Stalin’s emphasis was on production and lacked of a real willingness to fight. instead of research, development and In addition, their equipment was inade- training. quate for a modern war. Finland Inadequately trained Soviet soldiers All Axis Minors Ally and Italy are tech 1 in equipped with aged weapons could every field. not hope to compete with superior So they act exactly as Soviets do at the German forces when the invasion was beginning of the game: Ground units have 3MP (cavalry has 4), they always launched. After the defeat in the winter war, Marshal attack at 6… Romanians, Hungarians, Slo- But, provided the Soviet Union can Mannerheim’s Finnish troops were see- vaks and Italians cannot operate in Soviet survive the initial onslaught, she has king for revenge. Union north of the Green Dot Line. huge reserves in terms of natural re- Finns are very fierce soldiers and during Additionally remember that Romanians sources and manpower to fill the gap the overall war period they encircled and and Hungarians may never stack toge- and finally overcome the Axis Forces. destroyed many entire untrained Soviet ther in the same hex. Red Army and Aviation (VVS) both start divisions unable to stand their impetus. National air units may only support their the game at TECHNOLOGY LEVEL 1 Infantry is Tech 2, so both infantry and (TECH 1). own national ground units in combat. Finns have special rules. Germany Italy

At the time Barbarossa was launched, Italy is an Axis Major Power. German Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe units were highly trained and equipped with the best weapons of the period. All German units have already reached TECH 2 in every field and have a considerable qualitative advantage in term of movement, firepower and special abilities. However the Wehrmacht is not prepa- red for either a long campaign or for the Russian Winter. Securing the industrial and mining areas and destroying the bulk of So- Despite his strong effort in the Mediter- viet Red Army are a must before it’s ranean theatre and her global weakness, too late… fascist leader Mussolini wanted an expe- Artillery Units has 4 Movement Points Germany can spread help to ALL their ditionary Italian corp to join the German and Artillery fire at 5&6. minor allies, by sending them any kind ally in the eastern front. Because of their snipers, Finns are very of Production Points for building minor Italians have been often held in little re- strong and infantry units receive a Bonus allies army at a maximum rate of 3 PP gard by the Germans, and were even ac- when fighting in forest and swamp hexes each turn. cused of some cowardice and low mora- in their Attacking Zone. Note that Finland and Italy have no le: in reality, their relative ineffectiveness Nevertheless, Finns are very well trained Production Points, so the only way to in combat was due to their very scarce for winter war, so they do not suffer any rebuild or repair their units is asking equipment, obsolete weaponry, and pri- penalty for attacking in snowy weather. Germany for assistance. mitive tactics of Italian officers. However their limited logistics makes Also note that the Soviets have no Mi- Indeed they distinguished themselves these excellent soldiers unable to both nor Allies in Blocks in the East. in numerous battles, as in the battle of fight and move too far away from their Nikolayevka. homeland. Absolutely unprepared for this kind of Finns (and German troops sent to Fin- war, without trucks and worst comman- land) cannot attack enemy units behind ded, the Corpo di Spedizione Italiano in the White Dots Lines (Finnish Attack Russia, later expanded in ARMIR, was Zone) and cannot move further (neither going directly down to Hell. east and south) than the Big White Dot Italy has no Production Points, but can (Finnish Operational Area). P 7

Romania attacking from when defending. Mountain units Units can gain significant advantages in Fire Power, Movement Points and Special Abilities reaching a higher Technology Level. Romanians have been the most em- This special trained infantry is very well ployed German ally in the eastern front Infantry class units suited for Mountains battles. with over 600.000 men leaded by Ge- Standard infantry, cavalry, alpines, ma- It gains an additional BONUS when at- neral Antonescu. rines, paratroopers and artillery units tacking or defending in both Hills and Romania was also the most important are all part of this unit class. Mountains hexes. German OIL supplier. Losing these valuable reserves in Ploe- Infantry Artillery sti Oilfields equals to lose the war. Infantry is the cheapest unit to employ. Romanian Mountain Troops distinguished themselves for fighting also bare- foot and had been almost honourably all killed in actions in the furious battles fought on Mt. Elbrus, at the end of It is a must for defence and it constitu- Artillery is a devastating weapon. 1942. tes the bulk of every good army. It moves as fast as infantry does, but it Romanians may operate in Soviet Soviet and Axis Minor Infantry (but not always fires before every other ground Union (south of the Green Dot Line) Finns!) had no real fighting experien- unit and also before the defender ar- and Romania only. ce and were very poorly trained and tillery does! When planning a good equipped in 1941 (Technology Level 1), attack, don’t make your army lack this Hungary while German infantry had already had powerful weapon! many chances to build up a challen- If attacked, they defend normally firing ging experience (Technology Level 2). before every other ground units but Level 2 infantry is faster and Artillery after the attacker artillery. Hungarians were lead by General gains a BONUS in both attack and de- It fires at 5&6 when Level 2 is reached Szombalzeny. They may only see ac- fence battles. At Tech Level 2 infantry and at devastating 4&5&6 when Level tions in their homeland, in Yugoslavia also gains 4 important capabilities: Re- 3 is reached! and in the Soviet Union (south of the serve, Desperate Attack, Amphibious However, if embattled alone, it does Green Dot Line). Invasions and Paratroopers Airdrop. not fire at all! Finally, when level 3 is reached, infan- Remember that after firing, the artil- Romanians and Hungarians may never try gain a BONUS in defence and Ar- lery unit must be reduced (rotated stack together in the same hex. tillery gains a significant extra BONUS. counterclockwise) to simulate the am- Penalty: if embattled together, the Note that Soviet Shock Army have munitions consumption. Axis player must eliminate one unit be- alraedy been employed in the Russian- fore combat is resolved. Japanese war and gained a good fighting experience: they are Tech 2 and Slovakia have 4 MPs.

Cavalry

The puppet state of Slovakia ruled by Monsignor Josef Tiso joined Nazi Ger- many in the anti-bolscevic crusade from the early beginning, crossing the Cavalry is a special horse-mounted in- Soviet border at the end of June 1941. fantry class unit. It has the same rate of However they were not ready for such fire of regular infantry in both attack and an effort. defence whatever is the Technology Le- After a short time, the Slovaks were re- vel, but is 1MP faster. tired from the first line and sent back for garrison duty.

6.0 THE UNITS Units rolls as many dice as steps they have. So while the 1-step Hungarian Mountain Brigade rolls only 1 die, the strong Si- berian Schock Army rolls 7 dice! Units can have different Firepower due to Tech Levels or Nationality. Fi- repower could also be different when P 8

Static Infantry Aircraft units At level 3 they become JET BOMBERS: Basically there are two types of aircraf- increased range of 15 hexes, increased ts in BITE: FIGHTERS and BOMBERS. Air Combat at 5&6 and Ground Attack at 4&5&6. Static Infantry can be moved only by SRM and cannot attack. Headquarters

Armor class units Soviets also have Aviatsiya Dal’nego Mobile forces made the difference in Deystviya (Long Range Bombers Avia- every WWII battlefields they were em- tion) which work like other bombers ployed, especially if they had been well but at an increased operative range commanded. Armor Units have the abi- equal to 15 hexes and do not need Air lity of move and attack twice a turn, so Recon to attack at full capacity. they can easily pocket and destroy the bulk of your enemy army. Fighters Tank Armor and Air Headquarters are not used in the Basic Game.

Fighters are the equivalent of infantry They represent leaders but also the vi- There are 2 types of armor units in BITE. for air army. They are cheap and good tal amount of ammunition, fuel, food The most powerful ground unit. All Me- to escort your precious bombers, even and general supplies for the army. dium Tanks formations are included in if they have a shorter operative range. If sent directly into battle, these units If attacked on ground, they can imme- act also as an artillery unit firing before diately take-off. all other ground units. If attacked, they defend normally firing with the same power of infantry class units, but before every ground units. However, like artillery, if embattled alone, it does not fire at all!

Antiaircraft (AA) Guns Every ground unit (also HQ) in BITE has an antiaircraft gun based defence this special and formidable unit. included. Their presence on the battlefield gives If attacked by aircraft, the antiaircraft a huge advantage and makes it easy to guns will try to shoot down enemy ai- chase and encircle the enemy force. rcraft before they can drop bombs or Basically they attack at 6 and defend at When they reach Tech 2 they gain a strafe on ground. 5&6, but when Tech 2 is reached, they BONUS in Air Combat (Hit at 5&6) and Its Firepower is equal to the defensive gain the attack at 5&6 and the ability of became able to attack enemy troops Firepower and the unit rolls as many Blitzing and Reserve Mode, and move on ground (STRAFING at 6). dice as many steps it has. faster (4 MP instead of only 3) At level 3 they become JET FIGHTERS: At Level 3 they become Heavy Tanks: increased range of 10 hexes, increased 7.0 SEQUENCE OF PLAY attacking and defending at the im- Air Combat at 4&5&6 and Ground At- The game starts when all setup is com- Tankette tack at 5&6. plete. The game is played in “Turns”, each representing the passage of one Bombers month’s time. Each Turn is divided into phases and steps which must be performed in a precise order. pressive firepower of 4&5&6! After the weather is checked, the Axis Light Tank units, they don’t have the player moves first, as described in the same attack power as Medium Tanks, sequence below. After, the Soviet pla- Bombers are the best way for atta- but they are smartly used to fill the yer moves. cking enemy ground formations and gap between exploiting tanks and in- After both players have moved, one aircrafts on ground. fantry line. turn (1 month) is finished and a new However they are very expensive and However they must reach Tech Level one may begin. 2 to gain the ability of Blitzing, Exploi- very fragile, so a fighter escort may ting and Reserve Mode. preserve them from enemy intercep- At Tech Level 2 they move faster and tors Firepower. gain a BONUS in defence. When they reach Tech 2 they gain a At Tech Level 3 they gain an additio- BONUS in Ground Attack (Hit at 5&6) nal BONUS in both attack and defence and became able to fight in Air Com- and they really work like unstoppable bat against enemy aircrafts. assault machines! P 9

A. Weather determination Holding Back Reinforce-Ments with a rail line and not adjacent to any (May and October only) Reinforcements that must be held enemy units. Then can move any di- back or which the player wishes to stance on rail, but can never pass adja- B. Axis turn hold back may be put into play during cent to enemy units or end the move- 1. STRATEGIC WARFARE (OPT) the side’s PRODUCTION PHASE of any ment adjacent to enemy units. 2. OUT OF SUPPLY PHASE later Turn after their usual Turn of ar- After this phase, the unit can move 3. PRODUCTION PHASE rival. normally during the movement phase. 4. RAIL MOVEMENT PHASE 5. MOVEMENT PHASE Disbanding Units 7.4 The Movement Phase 6. DEFENDER REACTION PHASE After production is completed, play- The Axis player performs this phase 7. COMBAT PHASE ers may voluntary disband any of their during the Axis Phases and the Soviet 8. BLITZ PHASE units. player performs it during the Soviet 9. FINAL SUPPLY CHECK These units may be rebuilt starting Phases. 10. EXPLOITATION PHASE from the next turn. Units may be moved alone or together in stacks that can be broken down at C. Soviet phase (1-10) 7.3 Strategic rail movement any point during movement. Units are Strategic Rail Movement (SRM) allow moved by tracing a continuous route D. Victory phase the immediate redeployment of a cer- of movement through the mapboard’s tain amount of troops from an area of hexgrid. 7.1 The Out of Supply Phase the front to another. Hexes may not be jumped or skipped. Check units for supply and mark the It’s the best way to move new units to out of supply units with a white cylin- the frontline. 7.4.1 Number of Units to Move der (put it over the unit) It is also used to mass troops before In the Basic Game, the phasing play- launching surprise offensives in a light er may move as many or as few of his 7.2 The Production Phase defended area or to reinforce an area units as desired; all, some, or none. Players use their resources to repair da- under threat. maged units or to rebuild destroyed ones. The Soviets can make a maximum of 7.4.2 Movement Points Production Points can be used to repair 5 Strategic Rail Movement. Axis can and Movement Cost units in play or to rebuild destroyed units. make a maximum of 4 Strategic Rail Each combat unit has Movement Black unit numbers cost 1 resource point. Movement in Soviet Union plus 1 in Fin- Points (MP) depending by the unit White unit numbers cost 2 resource point. land. Axis Powers can instead make an type and or by Technology Level. Red unit numbers cost 3 resource points. unlimited number of SRM out of Soviet For example a Tech-1 ground unit (So- Blue Unit numbers cannot be rebuilt. Union territory. viets and Axis Minors except Finns) Players can spend all, some or none of However the SRM movement is not has 3MP, while a Tech-2 ground unit their Production Points. Unspent PP are free. (Germans and Finns) has 4MP. saved for future use and kept in SAVED This movement must be paid with 1 Regardless of terrain, Air Units expend PP BOX. Then, check the Battle Card to Yellow PP for each unit moved, or must one movement factor per hex ente- see what reinforcements (new units) are be ordered by Supreme Leader HQ. red. Ground units expend a number of available. To be eligible for rail movement, a unit movement factors per hex entered de- must start the turn in supply, in a hex pending on the terrain: New Units Arrival Unless otherwise specified, rebuilt and Forest 2MP reinforcing units may be placed in any Hills 2MP friendly supplied fortress and/or ma- Mountains 3MP jor city hex located in the unit’s home Swamp 3MP country, but no more than 1unit/Major city. (NOTE: Treat Poland as the “home Unused MP are lost. They are not tran- country” for Italian units). sferable from one unit to another, nor Two units may be placed in each Sta- may they be accumulated from Turn to lingrad, Leningrad and all national capi- Turn. tals. Armor units must enter at an armor Units may pass through hexes contai- (RED) factory plant. Air units and Para- ning other friendly units without penalty, troopers must enter at an air (BLUE) fac- paying the normal movement costs for tory plant. Soviet Marine Infantry enter at the terrain. Movement must end when a either Sebastopol or Leningrad. ground unit enters a hex containing an enemy ground unit. Reinforcement Restrictions An air unit or units may enter and/or No reinforcements may be placed in a pass through hexes containing enemy City Hex that is not connected by Rail/ units without penalty. Sea to the Main Supply Source. Reinfor- No unit may enter a hex for which it lacks cements must be held back if their arrival enough remaining movement factors. location is controlled by the enemy or it Remember that out of supply units have is out of supply. Reinforcements placed their MPs halved. in cities may overstack till the Movement Phase. P 10

7.4.3 Restricted Hexes 8.0 THE COMBAT PHASE 8.2 ANTI AIR COMBAT Ground units may not (although air Individual combats in various battle This phase happens only if one side units may) pass through or enter any location hexes may be performed in still has air units. all water hexes. Units may enter hexes any order determined by the phasing that are partially land and partially wa- player. ter (called “coastal hexes”) at normal Completely finish one combat before movement costs, but may not move into partial hexes on the mapboard edges.

Partial Hexes Partial hexes are not playable, even if sometimes they give some Production Points, such as Sverdlovsk. The last playable hexline is the one passing through Salla in the north. The last playable hexcolumn is the one passing through Magnitogorsk starting to resolve the next. Every battle is resolved step by step as 7.4.4 Movement Across Red described below. Arrows Red arrows are in correspondence with COMBAT SEQUENCE straits crossing and off map boxes. 1. Air to Air Combat 2. Anti Air Fire 3. Air to Ground Combat Before surviving aircrafts can attack 4. Artillery Fire (Attacker first) enemy units on the ground, they must 5. Ground Combat (Defender First) be fired on from ground units’ and cities’ antiaircraft guns. 8.1 Air-to-Air Combat Minor cities, bunkers and ground unit This phase happens only if at least one step roll 1 die each. Cities and fortress side has fighters, otherwise go directly roll 2 dice. to the next phase. At the beginning of the game and for In this phase air units of both sides fight several months after, Bunker, Fortress, against each other. Soviet Tank/Elite and German Armor/ Moving across these Red Arrows costs The combat is simultaneously. Elite units hits at 5 and 6. 3 MP. At the beginning of the game and for All other ground units’ and cities’ an- several turns after, German fighters hits tiaircraft guns hit only on 6. 7.4.5 Ground Unit Movement on 5 and 6 while all other air units hits Every step of ground unit rolls 1 die. The phasing player moves all of his only on 6. Every hit reduces 1 enemy air unit of ground units that he wishes to move Every step of air units rolls 1 die. 1 step. during this step. Every hit reduces 1 enemy air unit of 1 Hits are applied immediately. step. Air units will return fire in the next step. 7.4.6 Air Unit Movement Hits are applied immediately. The phasing player moves any desired Note that some air units need to suffer 8.3 Air to Ground Combat supplied air units to any battle location 2 hits before they are reduced. Ait units that survived the above two hexes within 5 (fighters) 10 (bombers) After each round of Air to Air combat, phases, now are free to attack enemy 15 (Soviet Long Range Bombers) hexes a side may decide to withdraw from units on ground. of their airbase hex. Air units marked the battle, otherwise another round German fighter, Soviet and Axis Minors with out of supply may only rebase at automatically occurs. The defender bombers fires at 6 when attacking on halved MP. decides first. ground. Alternatively, the phasing player may German bombers fire at 5 and 6. move his air units to a new airbase (RE- All other Air units do not fire at all! BASING) at double the above range. Every step of air unit rolls 1 die. Every hit reduces 1 air enemy unit of 1 7.4.7 The Non-Phasing Player Air step. Hits are applied immediately. Movement Step The non-phasing player now may react moving any desired air units to any battle location hexes within five (fighters) ten (bombers) or fifteen (Soviet Long Range Bombers) hexes of their airbase hexes. Air units which are already in a battle location hex may not be moved during this step and are considered attacked on ground. P 11

8.4 Ground Combat Attacker artillery fires first. Then the Ground Units (Artillery Excluded) ALL UNITS defender artillery returns fire. After the dice are rolled, the artillery is FOREST HILLS Fortress Modifiers reduced by 1 step (rotate it counter- Leningrad, Oranienbaum and clockwise) to simulate the waste of MOUNTAIN MARSH Sebastopol are Fortress hexes. ammunitions. All attacking ground and air units in 4-Step artillery is reduced to 2-step af- All attacking ground units (and their these hexes get a DOUBLE MALUS ter have fired. AA firepower) except artillery get a (QUARTERED) while all Defending After both attacker’s and defender’s MALUS. (halved) Ground Units except Artillery and artillery have fired, all the other ground AA receive a DOUBLE BONUS. units fire. Defender units fire first. River Hexes All ground units (and their AA firepower), except artillery, attacking across rivers get a MALUS and all ground units (excluding artillery and AA) defending receive a The Gustav Siege Heavy Gun is BONUS. These apply for the first not affected by any MALUS when round of combat only. attacking Fortress hex. Instead it receives a BONUS. City (Orange Big Dot ) If a Fortress falls in enemy hands, it All attacking ground units (and their becomes a Bunker. AA firepower), except artillery, get a Every step of ground unit rolls 1 die. MALUS and all defending ground Bunkers/Tatarenwall Every hit reduces 1 enemy ground unit units, except artillery and AA, While many trenches and of 1 step. receive 1 BONUS fortifications of different types Hits are applied immediately. Example: German tanks attacking have been built during the overall This concludes a round of combat. Ad- hit only at 6, while all defending war on the Eastern Front, only ditional rounds may still be fought. ground combat units, except some are noted in the game. artillery, receive 1 hit bonus (i.e. All Attacking Ground and Air Units 8.5 Terrain Combat Modifiers: German tanks defending in City hit get a MALUS (HALVED) while all Bonus & Malus at 4, 5 and 6). Defending Ground Units except The terrain in a battle hex modifies the Artillery and AA receive a BONUS. firepower values of ground units atta- Straits and Red Arrows But if those hexes fall in enemy cking and defending by adding a BO- Only infantry class units can cross hands, bunkers are destroyed and NUS to the defender or giving a MA- these particular hexes if the phasing cannot be reconstructed. LUS to the attacker as explained below. player does not control also the The Gustav Siege Heavy Gun is Adding a BONUS means that the unit other side. not affected by any MALUS when hits at an higher chance: Soviet Tanks All attacking ground units (and their attacking Bunker hex. Instead it normally defend at 5&6. With 1 Bonus AA firepower), except artillery get a receives a BONUS. they defend at 4&5&6! MALUS all defending ground units, Note that Solone Ozero hex is also Adding a MALUS works in the opposi- except artillery and AA, gets a a swamp hex. te way: the unit rolls half the number DOUBLE BONUS for the first round CUMULATIVE BONUS apply. of dice (HALVED). of combat only. Terrain features usually affect only attacking ground combat units, not atta- Kerch Strait cking artillery/ air units, and the anti- In order to attempt a crossing of the air gun firepower of the attacker. Some Kerch Strait, the Axis player must others, such as bunkers and fortresses, also control Sebastopol at the time Clear, historical battles (black affect ALL attacking units. the attempt is made. yellow small dot ) and minor city (yellow dot ) hexes These hexes cause no modifiers. Air-to-Air Combat Happens in the sky, The other terrain in their hex causes so it is not affected by the Terrain! modifiers. Also AIR-TO-GROUND combat is not af- For example, a Minor city hex that fected by the terrain. It will be affected was also a mountain hex would by bad weather AND Air Reconnaissan- cause modifiers the same as a ce when playing with Advanced Rules. mountain hex Generally, only AA firepower and Ground Combat is affected by the terrain. P 12

8.7.5 Effects of Hits friendly city (fortress, major, or minor). A full strength 5 step German infantry If both these conditions fail to be met, rolls 5 dice. A reduced 1 step German then the unit cannot retreat. infantry rolls only 1 die. 8.9.4 Air Units Retreats 8.8 Additional Rounds of Combat Air units retreat to an airbase hex in Unless the engaged units on one or range (5 hexes for fighter, 10 hexes for both sides is eliminated or one side de- Bombers, and 15 hexes for Soviet Long cides for a retreat (the defender always Range Bombers. chooses first!), the players have the 8.6 Cumulative Modifiers option to have an additional round of 8.9.5 Overstacking All modifiers are cumulative. combat. Later rounds of combat follow Units cannot overstack due to retre- For Example, a German Tank, attacking the same procedures and rules as the at. Those units, and air units unable to normally at 5&6, if getting a MALUS, first round of combat, starting from the reach an available airbase hex, are eli- rolls half the number of dice (HALVED), Anti-Air Step. minated. while, if getting 2 MALUS, (for attacking in a forest hex AND at the same 8.9 Retreats 8.9.6 Units Involved in Retreats time crossing a river) rolls quarter the After the completion of a round of com- Any type of retreat during an Air Com- number of dice (QUARTERED). bat, the defender has the first choice to bat Segment effects only air units – the For example, an infantry unit defending retreat out of the battle hex. ground units in the hex must remain for in a forest hex that is also a MAJOR If the defender does not retreat, then the Ground Combat Segment. In both CITY hex, and behind a river, receives a the attacker has the choice to retreat or air and ground combat, the attacker or BONUS for the river PLUS a BONUS for have another round of combat. the defender may retreat some or all the MAJOR CITY, hitting on a 4, 5 and 6. If neither side retreats, there will be their units after each round of combat. In the same example the attacker gets 1 another round of combat. The defender always have the first MALUS for the RIVER, 1 MALUS for the During the Air to Air Combat Step, choice to retreat, then the attacker FOREST and 1 MALUS for the MAJOR some or all supporting air units may be chooses to stay or to retreat. CITY: a German 4 step Tank fires at MI- voluntarily retreated while the ground Any unit that choose to retreat and is NIMUN FIRE: rolls 1 die on 5/6 instead units remain. unable to do so is eliminated. of 4 dice on 5&6. During the Ground Combat Segment, some or all the ground units in the hex 8.7 Hits may voluntarily retreats, while others 9.0 The blitz phase Hits are marked by rotating counter- continue fighting. Blitzing is the best way to pursue and clockwise (reducing) the units for the knock out units that survived and suc- appropriate numbers of hits taken, or 8.9.1 Retreat Movement cessfully escaped from the first attack. by eliminating combat units. The controlling player moves the retre- Soviet tank and German Armor may ating unit into an adjacent hex. If there spend 1 additional MP to move in and 8.7.1 Reducing Units are a number of retreating units they attack an adjacent hex. Air and Artille- Rotate the unit/units a number of times may be spread in any manner over a ry units involved in the original combat equal to the number of hits taken. number of adjacent hexes, as long as all may follow armor units in this pursuit, Note that SOME STEPS NEED 2 HITS these adjacent hexes conform to 8.13.3 if the attacker desires. TO BE REDUCED. below. Such hexes are called “retreat Only Armor units that have attacked In this case the hit is lost at the end of hexes”. in the combat phase may benefit from the combat phase (while it is carried No units may retreat into the partial this special action. over subsequent rounds) hexes on the edge of the mapboard. Retreat movement is “free” – it costs 8.7.2 Spreading Hits no movement factors. Unless that side has only one unit involved in the combat, hits can be spread 8.9.2 Retreat Directions over different units. Units retreat only to certain hexes. Strongest units must be hit (reduced) first. 8.9.3 Ground Unit Retreats For ground units, a retreat hex must be: 8.7.3 Eliminating Combat Units A. In a direction from the battle hex whe- A combat unit is eliminated and remo- re, if the unit continued moving in that ved from the mapboard when the num- direction any distance required, it would Resolve this attack as a normal attack. ber of hits on the unit equals or exceeds finally reach a supply source without pas- Blitz phase is not allowed in bad wea- the unit’s steps. sing through an all water hex, an enemy ther conditions (as no hex costs 1MP!) ZOC, an enemy controlled city and/or an 8.7.4 Allocating Excess Hits hex occupied by enemy ground unit or If all engaged units are eliminated, be an unresolved battle hex and not all hits have been placed, any OR excess hits are lost B. May be into a hex in any direction containing only friendly units or a P 13

9.1 Rebasing Air Units their full movement factors except During this step, all air units which that they may not have combats, so have been involved and survived the they can not enter a hex containing an combat phase, must rebase as descri- enemy unit. bed in 8.13.2.2. When completed, there should be no 11.0 THE VICTORY PHASE airbase hex containing more than 1 air Check the scenario Victory Conditions unit. and apply immediately. If this proves to be impossible, the Romanians, Finns and Hungarians sur- controlling player must eliminate any render now if their capital is enemy excess air units. controlled during the Victory phase. Check the control status of Bucharest, 9.2 Final Supply Status Check Helsinki and Budapest, and in case re- Rain Any unit marked Out of Supply at the move from the mapboard all the natio- All hexes cost 3MPs. start of the turn (not any other unit!), nal units of the surrendering Power. Air units do not fly combat missions in must be now checked for supply. Italy surrenders in September 1943. Rain weather turns, but they still can If the unit is now supplied, remove the rebase. out of supply White barrell. At the end of every Turn, advance the Note. Mountain hexes always cost 3MP. If the unit is still unsupplied, the com- Turn Tracker Token on the CURRENT bat unit is eliminated (SURRENDER), DATE CHART. Weather Effects on Combat and removed from the mapboard to- Weather affects combat too, not only gether with the out of supply marker. movement and supply. The non-phasing player gains 1 Re- ADVANCED GAME During Rainy Weather Turn, air units source Point (yellow cube) for each cannot fly any kind of attack missions, surrendering unit. The Zoc even if they are free to rebase. Zoc does not extend across a riverside All defender ground units receive 1 ad- 10.0 ARMOR EXPLOITATION hex. ditional BONUS and all attackers get 1 The exploitation phase consists of mo- MALUS. ving the phasing side’s armor units a 12.0 THE WEATHER second time during the Turn. Some turns have a fixed weather, while Only German armors and Soviet tanks October and May need a die roll to de- are eligible for Exploitation during 1941 termine if it is Sunny or if it rains. turns.

The Soviet player rolls for the weather: Fair on a roll of 1-3, while Rain on a roll of 4-6. During Snowy Weather Turn, all defen- Weather Effects on Supply Lanes ding and attacking Air Units and ALL Bad weather (Rain or Snow) reduces attacking Ground Units (But not Artil- the supply lanes to 2 hexes. lery!) get 1 MALUS. Soviet needs to reach ARMOR TECH Also AA firepower of attacking units 2 to gain the same advantage as the Weather Effects on Movement get a MALUS (as the skies are not cle- Germans. This event is scheduled to Rain and Snow affects movement: ar). happen in November 1942. Rivers are considered frozen and have No other units but the phasing player’s Snow no effects on combat for neither atta- armor units may be moved during this All clear, forest and swamp hexes cost cker and defender. phase. 2 MPs, while all Hills and Mountains Remember that Soviet, Axis Mountains A unit must be in supply at the start of costs 3MPs. Troops and Finns do not suffer any the Exploitation Phase in order to be All the ports in White Sea, in the Gulf combat penalty due to Snow weather, moved (the unit may be out of supply of Botnia, in the Gulf of Finland and in while they still suffer the Movement during or after the conclusion of an Ex- the Sea of Azov freeze during Snow and the Supply ones. ploitation Phase, but not at the Weather Turn. They are marked with a start). White Anchor. Check supply normally, but do not Any kind of sea movement is forbid- mark any unit with the out of supply den in these waters and between fro- marker – simply do not move, if not zen ports. supplied. Also Resource Sea Route and supply The units move normally, exactly as du- is not available through (both starting ring the Ground Movement Step, using from and arriving to) a frozen port. P 14

13.0 ELITE UNITS Refer to the scenario section for more I.e. Police Refineries produce 2 Black Both Soviets and Germans have Elite details about how many PP are due Production Points. Units. every turn. Production Points can be saved from Elite units were high trained and he- However, in order to repair an infantry turn to turn, provided that Red, Blue avy equipped with the best weapons. class unit, there is no difference at all and Black Production Points must be Nevertheless, their morale was higher with the basic production rules. always saved together with 1 Yellow than other units’. Instead, for repairing armor, air units Production Point each. and HQ, every 1 generic yellow PP, 1 For a PP to be used, the Resource cen- German Elite Units: additional red, blue or black PP must ter must be Rail or Sea (Only through be spent: Major Ports, the ones with a Orange Glowing Anchor, such as Sebastopol) ARMOR: YELLOW + RED connected to the Main Supply Source. AIR: YELLOW + BLUE Note that Soviet partisans on rail-hex NAVY: YELLOW + WHITE block the rail supply for Production 22nd Luftlande Division, 7th Fall- HQ: YELLOW + BLACK Centers (only). schirmjager and ALL SS units. INFANTRY: YELLOW If a Production Point is connected to the Main Supply Source only by Sea Soviet Elite units: Population Centres are high density (so through a Major Port), it could be urban areas providing manpower for subject to Mine Die Roll. army recruitment and factory working. I.e. Moscow and Berlin have 2 manpo- Example wer each, so they each produce 2 Yel- In June 1942 the Axis player controls low Production Points each month. Kerch and thus the Mining Centre lo- ALL Marines and ALL Guard Units. Mineral Centres are mines where natu- cated there. However a Soviet partisan ral resources such as coal, steal, cop- is placed on Solone Ozero rail hex, pre- Soviet Marines and German Paratroo- per, nickel and bauxite are extracted venting the PP to be rail-connected to pers and Luftlande Division have a Bo- for armament production. Berlin. nus while defending, while Soviet Red I.e. Stalinogorsk produces 1 Yellow Pro- Also, even if the Kerch port is not frozen Guards and German SS units have a duction Point each month. in June, it is not a Major Port, so the Axis Bonus while attacking. Oil centres are oilfields where petro- player cannot transport the PP by sea. leum is extracted. If the Axis would have controlled Seba- i.e. Majkop oilfields produce 5 Black stopol too, then a Mine Die Roll would Production Points each month. have happened: on a die roll of 6 the PP Petroleum is used only to replace HQ is lost for this turn, otherwise the PP is step. successfully transported to Berlin.

Factories 15.0 ADVANCED SUPPLY There are 4 types of factories. Armor Factories are plants where tanks, 15.1 Siege Supply tankettes and Armor HQs are built. Units in ports completely surrounded I.e. Leningrad Factories produce 2 Red by enemy units and/or ZOCs are in sie- Production Points. ge supply. Guard Units are also fully motorized Aircraft Factories are plants where Those units are marked as Out of Sup- formations which have 4MP from the fighters, bombers and Air HQs are built. ply and cannot be repaired, but at the beginning instead of 3MP (Cavalry I.e. Moscow Factories produce 3 Blue end of the turn they loose 1 step inste- Guard Units have 5MP) Production Points. ad of surrendering. However, if destroyed, Soviet Red Naval Shipyards are plants where fleets Once they have only the last step re- Guard Units cannot be rebuilt, even if and Naval HQs are built. maining, they surrender like other units. they can be repaired while still in play. I.e. Oraniembaum Shipyard produces 1 White Production Points. 15.2 Fortress Supply - Sebasopol 14.0 ADVANCED PRODUCTION Synthetic Fuel Factories are plants Units in Sebastopol Fortress hex are Players receive additional resources where German Synthetic Fuel is produ- marked Out of Supply and treated as (some more yellow PP) and also armor ced. Only Germans are eligible to build all other Out of Supply Units: cannot (Red), aircraft (Blue) and Oil (Black) this kind of plant. be repaired, cannot attack and have Production Points when using Advan- their MP halved. ced Production Rules. However they don’t lose any steps at While all PP are represented as woo- the end of the turn nor do they sur- den cubes of different colours, Petro- render. Sebastopol can be put under leum is represented as a Black Plastic siege to avoid that units under siege Cylinder. could be repaired, but this Fortress must be taken with a direct (and bloody) assault. P 15

15.3 Fortress Supply – Leningrad and Surrender Also note that, for the Axis player, Ar- Oraniembaum When surrendering, every units grant 1 mor/Air HQs cannot move units of a Leningrad suburbs were reached by PP each to the opponent. (Yellow, blue, different nationality, although OKW Marshall Von Leeb’s avanguards in the black or red depending on the type of (only) can move units of any type and first days of September and by the end the surrendering unit) nationality, but in a limited number, as of the month the city was completely explained below. surrounded and every communica- tions by land cut off. 16.0 MOVEMENT, FUEL, HQ 16.4 Number of Units to Move However the city succeded in a painful Players can move a number of units at resistance for 900 days, thanks to the maximum equal to the number of Oil special Дорога жизни (Road of Life) sup- Barrels (representing Action Points) ply route open through Lake Ladoga. available in that HQ. If Leningrad is surrounded, but can For example a 4 OIL HQ can move trace a valid supply lane through Lake max 4 units, while a 1 OIL HQ can move Ladoga to Volkhov, and then from Armor and Air units need a huge just 1 unit. Volkhov via rail to Siberia, then is con- amount of fuel to move and combat at sidered fully supplied. full efficiency. 16.5 Limited Supply The Road of Life is always in service, even Fuel is provided by an appropriate HQ. Without HQ activation, Armor units during Snowy turns ( although Leningrad (Tanks, Tankettes and Armor HQs) are PP cannot transit through frozen ports). in Limited Supply: they cannot attack (neither attempt a Desperate Attack!) and have their MPs halved. Only if an Armor Unit in Limited Sup- ply is also Out of Supply can attempt a Desperate Attack. However these units have their MP quartered and after the first round, if they failed to clear the hex, immediately surrender to enemy forces.

While AIR units can rebase without HQ activation, they need it for combat Soviet units in Leningrad pocket hexes 16.1 Full Supply movement. that are marked Out of Supply and Armor (Tank and Tankette but also treated as all other Out of Supply unactivated Armor HQ) and AIR Units: cannot be repaired, cannot at- (fighters and Bombers) units are in tack and have their MP halved. Full Supply (may move at Full Move- ment Allowance and can Attack) ONLY 15.4 Ehanced Tech-2 and Tech-3 Out if the player activates an appropriate of Supply Ground Combat Units HQ by revealing it (tipping it forward, Attack Ability face-up). While Tech-1 Ground Units still suffer all the penalties already described in 16.2 HQ Range the Basic Rules, better trained and To be moved at full efficiency and at- equipped units are able to better su- tack, a unit must be at 5 hexes range stain a such kind of situation, as the maximum from the appropriate acti- If the HQ is marked Out of Supply it German 6th, surrounded in Stalingrad vated HQ. still can be activated. However it works from middle November 1941 to Fe- Those hexes must be friendly (not in at half efficiency. That means that an bruary 1942, did. enemy ZOC). Out of Supply Oil 3 HQ can only move Tech 2 and 3 Ground units marked with The phasing player may move an HQ 1 unit, while an Out of Supply Oil 1 HQ out of supply have MP halved but may up to its full movement allowance and cannot move any unit. make a Desperate Attack in the at- then activate it. In bad weather conditions, HQ range is tempt of breaking out through enemy The phasing player can activate Air reduced to 3 hexes. lanes and restore their supply status. HQs in the Non-Phasing Player Phase in order to fly his air units, but can’t 16.6 HQ Deactivation Desperate Attack move the HQ: the HQ must be activa- At the end of the Blitz Phase ALL ac- A Desperate attack is the only way out ted in the hex where it is. tivated HQs must be deactivated by of supply Tech 2 and 3 Ground Units can reducing them by 1 step and turning attack: they attack normally, but after 16.3 Appropriate HQ them upright in order to re-hide them. the first round, if they failed to clear the Armor HQs (Black for the Germans Activated Step 1 HQ are automatically hex, they immediately surrender. and Red for the Soviets) move Armor destroyed when deactivating! Out of supply Armor Units can attempt units only, while Air HQs (Blue for both a Desperate Attack even without HQ German Luftwaffe and Soviet VVS) Activation, provided they are at least move Air Units only. Tech 2. See below. P 16

16.7 Blitz and Exploitation So OKW will always be activated at fair weather. Armor and Air units can blitz without maximum strength (OIL 4), but can However, because of their high vulne- extra HQ activation. only perform 2 special actions from rability to enemy fighters, these for- In the Exploitation Phase, Armor (not the ones listed above. mations can’t get the special Jericho Supreme!) HQ activation is still requi- OKW is placed in Rastenburg (East Trumpet Attack if there are enemy in- red to move Armor units. Prussia) and cannot leave this hex. terceptors flying in the hex. If the Soviets enter any hex in Ger- Be sure your fighter escort clear every 16.8 National hq many, OKW must be immediately re- threat to get the Special Jericho Trum- Supreme HQ (OKW and STAVKA) and deployed in Berlin, where it will remain pet Attack! Axis Minor Allies NATIONAL HQ have till the end of the game. special abilities. Antonescu, Mannereheim, Szombathelyi and Gariboldi HQs

Stavka represents the Soviet High Command. Stavka can be activated to perform a number of actions equal to function in the same way Stavka works its steps. Actions may be chosen from (they also have 1 Recon ability if play- the ones down below, but no more ing with the Recon Optional Rule). that one action of each type may be performed: Remember that German HQs, as Ger- • Move 1 Armor as it was in Full Supply many is the Axis Leader, once activa- • Move 1 unsupplied unit as it was in Full ted can move minor allies Armor and Supply Air units, while the reverse is not pos- • Move 1 Air unit as it was in Full Supply sible: i.e. Mannerheim cannot move a • Make 1 free strategic movement by rail German Armor or an Italian Air unit. • Move 1 ground unit by sea • Launch 1 Paratrooper Assault OPTIONAL RULES Stavka is placed in Moscow and can never leave it. If Moscow falls, Stav- 17.0 MOUNTAINS and SWAMP 19.0 PANZERS ATTACK! ka is eliminated and can be rebuilt in MOUNTAIN If the attacker has armor units and the Chelyabinsk. Armor class units (Tanks, Tankettes defender has none (Tech Level 1 Tan- If Moscow is not Supplied or is lost, the and also Armor HQs) are not allowed kettes are not eligible to either claim Soviet rail capacity is reduced by 1 (to to move in Mountains. or negate), the attacker may declare a 4 SRM/turn) During bad weather turns, only Panzers Attack! Mountain Units can enter mountain In this case only, attacking armor units hexes. fire before defending non-armor units, Mountain units (but not their AA) re- but they are targeted first by enemy ceive a BONUS when fighting (both response fire. defending and attacking) in mountain Weather must be sunny and the hex OKW even if it is a Supreme HQ, has hexes. must be clear in order to call this op- different rules to simulate its simulta- Also, Mountain Units spend 1 less MP tion. neous actions and operations in the when entering a mountain/hill hex. Tactic Note West Front. SWAMP: Armor class units get 1 extra The Panzer Attack! option could be the It must be activated every turn and MALUS when attacking in unfrozen opening-door tactic in some specific must be repaired in every production Swamp hexes. situations, especially if played atta- phase before any other units. Cavalry spend 1 less MP when entering cking with Soviet Red Guards Tanks or a swamp hex. German SS Armor units, but suffering heavy losses on these precious armor 18.0 JERICHO TROMPETE units could conversely definitively halt a large scale offensive.

20.0 AIR RECON Air Recon allows phasing player to reveal enemy units in the target hex. The Junkers Ju 87 Stuka was a main as- Also confers a vantage in combat, as set for Blitzkrieg, able to place bombs Aircraft and Artillery indirect fire need with deadly accuracy. a clear vision of the target to cause se- Thanks to their astonishing siren, vere damage to the enemy. Stukas formations throw 2 more dice Without a good air reconnaissance, when attacking units on ground with Attacking aircraft and artillery units lo- P 17

ose get 1 MALUS for the FIRST round Because of this strategy, Oil, Mining He scores a 2: Kassel/Magdeburg. The of the attack. and Population centres do not start German player then choose the loca- Defender does NOT need Recon. generating PP to the Axis player the tion between one of these two possi- turn after conquest. bilities. If Magdeburg has already been Procedure Every centre must be repaired before chosen for a previous factory, then Every Air HQ, if activated, may per- it can restart functioning properly. Kassel must be chosen. If also Kassel form a number of RECON Attempt Repair is similar to building new fac- has reached its armor factory limits, equal to the number of fuel barrels tories, but it requires only 3 yellow PP then a new die-roll is performed. (steps) in order to reveal enemy units and 3 turns (1PP/turn). When in ALL the locations have been in the he. The target he must be in a already been constructed a factory, range of 5-10-15 hexes depending on Conquering Factories then the German player may choose that Nation’s Fighter Tech Level. Enemy Factories are destroyed when a Major City as he wishes for the 13th Minor Axis Powers HQ, if activated, conquered. factory. may make only 1 Recon Attempt. Soviet player (ONLY) has the option of After AA rolls, the recon is successful shutting down and evacuate an indust- 23.0 PARTISANS with a die-roll of 1-4 and the non-pha- ry at a cost of 3 Rail Movements. Beginning with September 1941 turn, sing player must reveal ALL the units it the Soviet player starts deploying par- has in that he by tipping them forward, 22.0 NEW FACTORIES tisans. face-up. Players may decide to start the pro- Partisans prevent SRM and Resource For each Tech Level higher than Level duction of new factories in order to being transported by rail in, trough 1, subtract 2 from the die-roll improve their production throughput and into the rail hex they occupy. However, as the terrain affects visibility, of a particular kind of unit. They do not affect supply in any way. those die-roll are applied only for clear Partisans have no ZOC. terrain hexes. • 1 Red factory produces 1 Armor PP PROCEDURE: Sum the number of So- If the hex is not clear (Major City, Bun- every turn. viet Cities, divide them by 3, and add ker, Swamp, Hills, Mountains or Forest), • 1 Blue factory produces 1 Air PP every the Soviet Major cities captured by the then add 2 to the die-roll. turn. Axis player AND without an adequate Add 4 for Fortress. • 1 Black factory is equivalent to 1 Oil Axis garrison. Field and produces 1 Fuel Barrel every Then deploy the corresponding num- turn, but at a cost of 1 Yellow PP. Only ber of Partisan Unit anywhere in Soviet the German player may build this type Union, out of an Axis ZOC. of plant. As soon as an Axis ground unit enter the hex, the partisan unit is removed Procedure from play. 10 Yellow PP and 10 turns (1PP/Turn) Vyborg, the Baltic States and Bessa- are needed to build up the new plant. rabia are excluded from both the city The location is choosen randomly by a count and partisans’ placement. dieroll. Every turn, the player may spend 1 yel- 24.0 GARRISONS low PP to build the new plant up. In order to keep conquered Russian Also the weather modifies the chance It needs 10 PP and 10 turns (do not territory under control, the Axis player of a good reconnaissance, so in case needed to be consecutives) to com- must garrison its cities. of Snowy weather, add 2 to the die-roll. plete the plant. Ungarrisoned cities generate partisans When completed, the new factory (a as described above. Artillery Targeting removable transparent sticker of the Put in play the 3 RHG Security German If the weather is clear and recon suc- appropriate color) is placed on the Corps and the 2 Slovakian corps if play- cessful, artillery may target a specific mapbord in a location randomly cho- ing with this variant. enemy counter, such as enemy artillery. osen by a dieroll. The Soviet Union must garrison the Tur- Production will start next turn. kish border in such a way every Turkish 21.0 SCORCHED EARTH Use the Production Tracker reported border hex is in the ZOC of a Soviet unit ‘We must not leave ... a single kilogram on the Map to track the status of the Note that 3 blocks minimum are required. of grain or a single litre of petrol to build up process and finally to select the enemy. Guerrilla tactics are to be the location. employed: It is necessary to create in invaded areas conditions unbearable Example. to the enemy. All workers must defend The German player wants to build up a Russia in our patriotic war against Ger- new Armor factory. He spends 1 Yellow man Fascism.’ PP and put a round red removable sti- Joseph Stalin cker on the ‘’1’’ box of the Axis Produc- tion Tracker. This option allows the Soviets to au- When the marker reaches the ‘’10’’ box, tomatically destroy Mining and Popu- the factory is completed and the Ger- lation centres when retiring from this man player rolls a die and check the re- hexes. sult under the Axis Production Tracker. P 18

25.0 AXIS FIRST WINTER 28. 0 STRATEGIC BOMBING The winter of 1941-42 was one of the Factories, Ports, Mining and Popu- coldest of the last hundred years. lation Centres and Rail Stations can Axis troops were not equipped for be strategically bombed to reduce low temperature such as -30°C or enemy production or SRM. -40°C, and many weapon suddenly stopped working. Nevertheless, supply lanes were already so stretched because of the lack of working trucks, that it was almost impossible to resupply any combat units. During December 1941, January, 26.0 Екатерина BM13 After Air to Air combat with enemy February and March 1942 all Axis units When Tech 2 is reached, every Soviet fighters (if any) and AA rolls, Bom- get a MALUS even when defending. artillery begins to be equipped with bers and Strategic Bombers are cle- new 132mm rockets instead of stan- ared to attack the target. dard 80mm shells.

Supply lanes are reduced to 1 hex for Roll 2 more dice when Tech 2 is all Axis units, except Finns (whose are reached. normally reduced to 2 hexes for bad Zero step artillery does not fire at all weather). as usual. Axis mountain units, Finnish and So- viet units do not suffer any penalty 27.0 GUSTAV SIEGE GUN while attacking/defending during winter 1941 turns. As this kind of target is big enough, Winterized Locomotives there is no other MALUS than the wea- Only 20% of all of Germany’s “winte- ther for Strategic Bombers, while other rized” locomotives were operationally Bombers still need Air recon to attack at Gustav Siege Gun is a heavy artillery full strength. available in late 1941... Conversely, So- unit with the special ability of hitting viet (and ex-Imperial Russian) locomo- Bunkers and Fortress hexes at 4&5&6. tives seemed to be in their natural ele- Factory, Population and Mining centres: Recon-Lack does not affect this po- every bomb hit suffered reduces the ment during the winter months. werful weapon, so its ideal use is to hit During the First winter of war, from production of 1 PP. targets as big as hard for a good air 10 hit: the plant is permanently destroyed. November to March included, the Axis reconnaissance and too bloody for a player Rail Capacity in Soviet Union is combined ground/air attack. Port: 1 bomb hit impedes the use of the reduced to 1 (plus 1 in Finland). When used in other terrain, it works During 1942 Winter, it is reduced to harbour for both launching amphibious like any other artillery, but the high invasion and moving of ground units by 2, while from 1943 it has not reduced cost of its shells would not justify this anymore. sea. waste. 3 hits impede the use of the harbour for When Infantry Tech level 3 is reached, supply purpose too. T-34 550mm Winter Track this mortal weapon gains an additional Because of their larger tracks (550mm hit bonus, hitting also at 3. compared to 400mm tracks of Ger- Rail Stations: every city is a rail station. man panzers), Soviet Tank Units (but Every bomb hit suffered destroys such not Tankette) had much more mobility number of locomotives enough to redu- in snow theatre. ce the rail network capacity of the non- They have 4 MP in snow weather. phasing player by 1 for the next turn. Moreover, the railway cannot be used for strategic movement in that point: no SRM can start, arrive or pass through the broken rail hex. P 19

29.0 LEND LEASE 30.1 Airwar Over Germany While Western Allied Bombers are au- In 1941 the Soviet Union quickly reco- tomatically repaired every turn at no vered from the initial shock also thanks While the Soviets were directly fighting cost, German Fighters must be repai- to foreign aid sent from United States the Axis Powers in the East, Great red by spending the appropriate num- and Great Britain, usually known as Britain and from 1942 also the United ber of resources. Lend Lease. States started a heavy bombardment German interceptors cannot be sent campaign over the Reich to reduce the to Russian front, while other German efficiency of the German industry. Fighters may be assigned to protect the Skies over the Reich if the German player desires.

31.0 AIRBORNE ASSAULT

Procedure German and Soviet paratroopers may The Allies fly their bombers over Ger- attempt an airdrop assault, provided man Targets, positioning them over a they are at full strength, start the turn specific target hex. in supply and in a airbase hex and are This help consisted of various kind of The German player then reacts, flies his commanded by OKW and STAVKA. equipment, including weapons, am- Fighters to intercept enemy bombers. munitions, artillery, tanks, aircrafts… shipped to Soviet Union through different routes. The main route was the Pacific Route, from Alaska to Vladivostock, carried on Soviet ships to benefit from Soviet- 1 Round of AIR-TO-AIR COMBAT happens. The weather must be Sunny, the target Japan non-aggression Pact. AA fires 6 shots against enemy planes. hex must be clear and in a range of 5 The UK sent help through Murmansk/ Surviving Bomber are cleared to drop hexes. Archangelsk. bombs on their target Eliminated German and Soviet Paratroo- Starting with May 1942 a third route Excess hits are lost. pers may be rebuilt and must enter at a was opened through Persia. Remember that the weather affects AIR- Blue Factory Hex. The amount of help varied during the TO-AIR combat and AA firepower, but Every step may be rebuilt paying 1 Yel- war period and depended on many NOT WESTERN ALLIES STARTEGIC low PP plus 1 Blue PP for every black factors and also on the willing of UK/ BOMBERS when dropping bombs on unit number built, 2 each for every white USA to help Soviets by subtracting ground! number and 3 each for every red number. himself of this precious resources. During the game, check the Turn Re- cord Chart to verify the amount of Bombers hit German Fighters at 6, Lend Lease for a specific period. and on 5&6 from January 1943. In the game, the Lend Lease starts They hit German factories at 5&6, from September 1941 and has a fixed and at 4&5&6 from January 1944. amount of resources per turn: German fighters hit on 5&6, and at 5PP (plus 2 Air PP and 3 Armor PP) 4&5&6 starting from January 1944. from Vladivostock and 3 PP (plus 1 Air German AA hits on 6, and on 5&6 and 2 Armor PP) from Murmansk starting from October 1944. From June 1942: Persia route opened. Add 2PP from Persia (plus 1 Armor and 1 Air PP) LEND LEASE CONVOY ATTACK From June 1943: 6PP from Vladivostock (plus 4 Air and ARTIC ROUTE 2 Armor PP), 3 from Murmansk (2 Air 3 German Type VII SUBs hit on 6 plus 1 Armor PP) and 2PP (plus 2 Air 2 German Bombers hit on 5&6 PP) from Persia. Except for the Pacific route, the other 2 routes are subject to shipping losses . 30.0 STRATEGIC WARFARE This is a brand new phase happening PERSIA ROUTE twice a turn before Production phase of 3 German Type IX SUBs hit on 6 both the German and the Soviet player. 1 Italian Sirena Class hits on 6 Every hit, reduces 1 PP of a specific type. P 20

2. During the Exploitation Phase, a 32. 0 AMPHIBIOUS INVASIONS The destination port must be within a player can put his armor units (Tech range of 7 hexes. level 2 needed) in Reserve. Only OKW, Soviet Navy HQ and STAV- KA can command such kind of move- Effect: these units do not move during ment. the exploitation phase, but can inste- Axis Naval activity was very low in ad move after the opponent standard Only Soviet Marine units have this spe- both Black Sea and Gulf of Finland movement phase to reinforce battle cial ability, but not before they reach where Soviet Navy was forced to re- hex. TECH LEVEL 2. paired shipyard for the most of the war, while the Baltic Sea was a sort of Axis Procedure: The phasing Player spends Lake. 1 HQ Action Point and, instead of mo- All these waters were highly mined ving 1 armor unit, he puts 1 Black Barrel and naval transport very risky. on the Unit he wishes to put in Reserve Mode.

35.0 ITALY SURRENDERS Italy does not automatically surrender in September 1943. Starting from July 1943, the Soviet pla- When moving a ground unit by sea, yer rolls a die after the weather check. The weather must be sunny and they the non-phasing player rolls 1 die. Italy surrenders on a die-roll of 1 in July, must start in the same port of the On a roll of 1, 2 and 3 the movement on a die-roll of 2 or less in August, on Naval HQ (which must be activated is successful and the ground unit rea- a die-roll of 4 or less in September, on first) to attempt an invasion against ches its destination. a die-roll of 5 in October 1943 and all an enemy controlled coastal hex. The On a roll of 4 and 5, the boat transpor- successive months. target hex cannot be a mountain or ting the ground units hits a mine and shoals hex and must be in a range of the ground unit suffers 1 hit (1 step 5 hexes. It is considered a naval move- 36.0 IRAN JOINS AXIS loss). In August 1941, the Persian leader Reza ment subject to Mine Die Roll. On a roll of 6 the boat gets in a mine- Pahlavi, refused to break relationship Defending ground units (if any) recei- field and the ground unit is lost in the with Germany and other Axis powers. ve a hit BONUS and fire first, while Ma- Abyss. As a consequence, without a declara- rines fires after and get 1 MALUS. tion of war, Soviet and British forces If things get worse however Marine Resource transported by sea. invaded Iran. units can be re-embarked after every The same procedure apply when tran- In August 1941, Iran becomes an Axis round of combat at a cost of a new Na- sporting resource by sea in Heavy Mi- Minor Power, even if it has not any val HQ Activation, but the Marine unit ned Water (Black Sea and Baltic Sea), units. loose 1 additional step and is again even if Axis convoys are not affected The Soviets units in Caucasus region subject to Mine Die Roll. in the Baltic out of Gulf of Finland, if become immediately unfrozen and Eliminated Soviet Marines can be re- Leningrad is under siege and in the can invade Iran. built and must be placed in either Le- Black Sea if Sebastopol is under siege As soon as Teheran is Soviet controlled, ningrad or Sebastopol only. or controlled by the Axis player. Iran surrenders. Every step may be rebuilt paying 1 Yel- This eventuality could happen for The Soviet player must maintain 1 low PP plus 1 White PP for every black example if Partisans are blocking ALL ground unit in Teheran for the remain- unit number built, 2 each for every the rail gauges from a specific Re- der of the game. white number and 3 each for every red source center to Germany. Nine months later the fall of Iran, the number. Roll 1 die for every Resource Center in Persian Corridor is open and the We- Only for this purpose, Soviets have 1 Sea Supply. On a roll of 6 the resource stern Allies may start to send Lend Le- White PP for Leningrad and Sebasto- is lost. ase through this route too. pol each. Note that Axis Submarines in the In- Marines and Paratroopers Units may 34.0 RESERVE UNITS dian Ocean can attack these convoys. overstack in the turn they are used for Having units in Reserve can make the their special attack. difference in critical situations. There are 2 different moments to put 33.0 NAVAL MOVEMENT units in RESERVE MODE, both require Tech 2.

1. During the Movement Phase, players can put infantry units (Tech level 2 needed) in reserve. There are no naval units in Blocks in Effect: Reserve units cannot move du- the East. ring the normal movement phase, but However both players may move can then instead move during the ex- ground units by sea. ploitation phase as they were armor. P 21

Leningrad, or at least cut any com- 37.0 MAIRBECK SHERIPOV rent fields, by deciding their own rese- munications with SIBERIA, by both arch commitment. railway and Road of Life. To reach the 2nd Technology Level in Failure to achieve one of these two a specific field, players must expend conditions is a draw. 20PP in 20 months (requires an in- Set Up: accordingly to the standard vestment of 1PP/month). Barbarossa scenario, but deploy only Mairbek Sheripov (1905 — November The 3rd Level costs 30PP and requires BALTIC and LENINGRAD Military Di- 7, 1942) was one of the leaders of Che- an investment of 1PP/month. stricts for the Soviets and Army Group chen insurgency against the Soviet 1 PP must be spent every turn in one North for the Axis. Union in the 1940s. He was killed in specific field. Turns do not need to be Production: Germany has 5 PP and the 1942 in a Soviet reprisal raid. consecutive. Soviets have 10 PP every month star- When Axis controls Grozny, or from So at least 20 months are needed for ting from July 1941. 1942 on if Grozny is not garrisoned by reach tech 2 and 30 for tech 3. a Soviet Unit, the Axis player may put To track the investment, use the Pro- in play the Checen Revolutionaries at duction Tracker to monitor the evolu- Road to Moscow (2) This scenario lasts for 4 turns and the full strenght. tion of the research. This unit is a German unit for every pur- Playable Area is restricted to Germany and Soviet Union south of Dvina River/ pose and its supply source is Grozny. Minor Powers Tech Level Valdai Hills and north of Kiev hex-line. If destroyed, the unit can be re-put in Minor Powers do not make their own To win, the Axis player must conquer play several times if one of the two research. Instead they benefit from Moscow or surround it completely by above conditions is met. their leader’s effort. the end of the game. Failure to achieve Romanians’, Finns’, Hungarians’ and one of these two conditions is consi- 38.0 TECH LEVELS Slovaks Tech Levels are 1 Level below dered a Draw. There are 4 different fields of Research Germans’ Tech Levels. Set Up: accordingly to the standard (Infantry, Armor, Fighter and Bomber) So i.e., as soon as Germans get Armor Barbarossa set up but only Army and 3 Levels of Technology for every Tech Level 3 in June 1943, Romanian Group Center for Germany and We- field. and Hungarian armor unit immediately stern Military District are in play. Higher Level correspond to better get Tech 2. Production: Germany has 5 PP and the speed, firepower… Italy is a Major Power, so it has its own Soviets have 20PP every month star- research, but is not represented in the ting from July 1941. game.

National Research Bonus Road to Rostov (3) This is the hardest short scenario. It Soviet Infantry Technology Research is last for 6 turns and the Playable Area 5 PP cheaper and 5 months faster, and is restricted to Germany, Hungary, Ro- German Armor Technology Research mania and the Soviet Union south of is 5PP cheaper and 5 months faster. Kursk hex-line. The German player will face the best trained and equipped troops of Soviet Red army. In the basic game, tech levels are THE SCENARIOS To win the Wehrmacht must reach the predetermined and technology bre- Caucasus’ door as before the heavy akthrough happens at a fixed time li- Nine scenarios have been developed winter comes. sted on the Turn Record chart and re- and can be played with the game. Rostov, Kharkov and Sebastopol are ported below: Each scenario has a different difficul- mandatory objectives. If all 3 are con- ty level, rated in brackets from 1 (Very quered and held by the end of No- Easy) to 10 (Very Hard) vember 1941, the Axis player has won March 1942: T2 Soviet Infantry decisively. 2 objectives are a marginal November 1942: T2 Soviet Armor The short games victory, while only 1 is a draw. Failure January 1943: T2 Soviet Fighter These 4 scenarios have been develo- on seize at least one of these cities, is June 1943: T3 German Armor ped with the precise intent of be pla- a Soviet Victory. August 1943: T3 Soviet Infantry yed quickly while learning the rules or Set Up: accordingly to the standard September 1943: T2 Soviet Bomber whenever there is no time for a longer Barbarossa scenario, but deploy only January 1944: T3 German Fighter scenario. the Odessa and the Kiev Military di- June 1944: T3 Soviet Armor All these 4 short scenario can be play- stricts for the Soviets and Army Group October 1944: T3 German Infantry ed with the Basic Rules. South, Hungarian Carpathian Army March 1945: T3 German Bomber and Rumanians plus German Corps Road to Leningrad (1) and 11st Army in Rumania for the Axis This scenario is the easiest one. Game Powers. Remember that the Odessa As a consequence, a prefixed amount lasts for 4 Turns only and the Playable Military District, all Axis minors and of resources is subtracted every turn Area is restricted to Germany, the Bal- German Corps and 11st Army are fro- from the total amount of that power. tic States and the Soviet Union north zen on the first turn. But players have the option of mo- of the Dvina River. Production: Hungary has 1 PP, Rumania difying the research effort in the diffe- To win the Axis player must conquer has 2 PP and Germany has 5 PP and P 22

the Soviets have 15 PP every month of the invasion and lasts for 6 months. huge reserves starting from July 1941. SETUP: Deploy accordingly to the Bar- For all Powers production starts from barossa Scenario July 1941. Short-Barbarossa (4) The game lasts only for 3 turns and co- Fall gelb june 1942 (7) ver the entire early phase of the inva- “If I do not get the oil of Maikop and sion, from Finland to Black Sea. Grozny then I must finish [liquidieren] this war”. Adolf Hitler

Set Up: is identical to the standard BARBAROSSA SCENARIO, but no advanced/optional rules are needed. Special Scenario Rules “Not a step back!” and “There is no land behind the Volga!”. Joseph Stalin Production Barbarossa Surprise After the initial success of the summer Hungary has 1 PP, Rumania has 2 PP Even if many signals were clearly reve- 1941 and the unexpected halt during and Germany has 15 PP, while Soviets aling the aggressive intensions of Ger- the winter, the Wehrmacht is now back have 46 PP every month starting from many, such as mass troop deployment again at almost full strength for the last July 1941 at the borders and alert sent from both attempt to crack the Soviet bear’ legs. Victory conditions British and Soviet Secret Services, the Once again the time is running against At the end of August 1941, check the Short Soviet Red Army was literally caught the Axis, as when the Soviets will reach Barbarossa Victory Points Table to deter- with her panties down when the at- TECH 2 in Armor (November 1942) mine a winner. tack was launched at 3.00 A.M. of that and Fighters (January 1943), probably Each Soviet Major City controlled by the bloody Sunday morning of June 22nd Germany will not get any further chan- Axis counts as 1 Victory Point, while Lenin- 1941. ce to win the war. grad counts double and Moscow triple. During the first turn, Soviets forces are not eligible for any BONUS and AXIS As the German player, your logistic sy- units attacking are not affected by any stem does not allow you a large scale VICTORY POINTS TABLE MALUS. offensive like in 1941. 0-3 Soviet Decisive Victory All German Artilleries and Axis Air So first make your strategy choice: go 4-6 Soviet Marginal Victory Units receive eligible for attack an ad- for Moscow and try to surrounded it 7 Tie (No Winner) ditional BONUS for the first round of and its precious factories, OR try the 8-18 Axis Marginal Victory every combat. Caucasus gambit, sizing Rostov, figh- 18+ Axis Decisive Victory Also Soviet Antiaircraft Guns, because ting (and hopefully win) the crucial of Stalin’s direct order, are NOT allo- battle in the streets of Stalingrad and wed to fire at any Axis Air Units during finally launching your mobile units to The long games the first round of combat. conquer the vital Caucasus oilfields These 4 scenarios and the DORTMUND and Baku. CAMPAIGN have been developed for Luftwaffe Total Supremacy players who have the time and are All Axis planes roll double dice during willing to take on the challenge of the the first surprise round of attack. most decisive battles of World War II. This costs a double HQ reduction if Advanced Rules are a must for all the- playing with the Advanced Rules. se scenarios, while Optional Rules can be added one by one as players desire. Production GERMANY: has 24 PP, 10 OIL, 3 AR- Barbarossa june 1941 (8) MOR PP and 9 AIR PP per month. This is the most difficult scenario, espe- HUNGARY: 1 PP + 1 OIL per month. cially for the Axis player. A mistake in RUMANIA: 2 PP + 2 OIL per month. the early steps of the campaign could SOVIET UNION: 46 PP, 7 ARMOR and compromise the final success. 6 AIR PP The game starts from the initial phases Note that the Soviets don’t need to track OIL consumption, as they have P 23

The Soviet Air Force, the Voenno- Victory Conditions Operation Bagration June ‘44 (6) Vozdushnye Sily (VVS), is swept aside Moscow, Leningrad, Baku and Stalin- With the Allied landing in Normandy, by the Luftwaffe. The VVS assembly grad are the key objectives. Germany has no more chance to win in the immediate area lost 201 aircraft If the Axis conquers and holds two of the war. between 23 and 31 August, and despi- them till the end of the scenario, it has Now it’s just a matter of time. te meagre reinforcements of some 100 automatically won a decisive victory. While the Wehrmacht is only a shadow aircraft in August, it was left with just One of them is an Axis marginal vic- of the invincible army it has been in the 192 serviceable aircraft, 57 of which tory. past years, the Red Army has reached were fighters. Otherwise is a Soviet decisive win. a total ground/air supremacy over all The Soviets continued to pour aerial the Eastern Front. reinforcements into the Stalingrad Closed in between the Western Allies area in late September, but continued Operation Zitadelle June ’43 (6) advancing from France and Soviets to suffer appalling losses; the Luftwaf- After the defeat at Stalingrad and the from the east, Germany must play any fe had complete control of the skies. destruction of Von Paulus’ 6th Army, attempt to delay the inevitable while However, due to the relocation of So- Germany must count on his weak allies its scientists are developing unbelieva- viet industry in 1941, Soviet aircraft formations to fill the frontline. ble new secret weapons in the Pene- production reached 15,000 in the se- As the chances for the Final Victo- munde facility. cond half of 1942. The VVS was able to ry decrease day by day, there’s still a preserve significant strength and build good opportunity for a small scale of- Set Up: details are found in the Scena- up a strategic reserve that would even- fensive for destroying an entire Soviet rio Set up Chart. tually overpower the Luftwaffe. Front Army massed around the Kursk Axis and Soviet Forces must be deplo- Salient yed on the west and on the east side of Set Up: details are found in the Scena- Failure to achieve this objective will the Blue dashed line. Every hex on the rio Set up Chart. result in the automatic unleashing of border must be occupied. Axis and Soviet Forces must be deplo- the Soviet Juggernaut for a dangerous yed on the west and on the east side summer offensive. Production of the Yellow dashed line. Every hex on GERMANY: 28 PP, 14 OIL, 15 ARMOR the border must be occupied. PP and 18 AIR PP per month. HUNGARY: 1 PP and 1 OIL per month. Production RUMANIA: 2 PP and 2 OIL per month. GERMANY; 36 PP, 12 OIL, 8 ARMOR PP SOVIET UNION: 43 PP, 18 ARMOR PP and 12 AIR per month. and 18 AIR PP. HUNGARY: 1 PP + 1 OIL per month. RUMANIA: 2 PP + 2 OIL per month. Victory Conditions SOVIET UNION: 34 PP, 12 ARMOR and Soviets must enter Berlin AND Pene- 12 AIR PP munde before the end of 1944 for an astonishing Decisive Victory. Special Scenario Rules Achieving the objective before the end Note that Leningrad 2PP are sea-con- of June 1945 is a Marginal Soviet Victo- nected by the Road of Life. Set Up: details are found in the Scena- ry, while a further delay is a draw (Risk Starting from July 1942, the Soviets rio Set up Chart. of German atomic development) may start building the Saratov-Stalin- Axis and Soviet Forces must be deplo- grad (3PP), the Stalingrad-Astrakhan yed on the west and on the east side Codeword dortmund (4PP) and the Astrakhan-Baku (5PP) of the Green dashed line. Every hex on The Russian Campaign 1941-45 (10) railroads. the border must be occupied. The Axis player must hit hard and run fast to reach and seizure Leningrad, Production Moscow and the Donets Basin Indu- GERMANY: 37 PP, 14 OIL, 13 ARMOR strial area before the snow falls. PP and 15 AIR PP per month. Hold the two most important Soviet HUNGARY: 1 PP + 1 OIL per month. cities will probably lays to an Axis De- RUMANIA: 2 PP + 2 OIL per month. cisive Victory. SOVIET UNION: 34 PP, 18 ARMOR PP After the summer happy time, the Rus- and 18 AIR PP per month sian General Winter will inflict many unreplacable losses to the unprepa- Victory conditions red Axis forces and the Red Army will To win, Axis must destroy at least 8 of have some good cards to play as soon the precious Soviet Red Guard Non- as the Siberian Schock Troops arrive Replaceable Units by the end of the from the Soviet Far East border in No- Also a new expensive SEA ROUTE from scenario. vember. Baku to Krasnodovsk (10PP) could be The Soviets must override the Dniepr German military doctrine was based built and become useful for petroleum and establish a solid beach head on on the principle of combined-arms te- delivery, if Astrakhan is under threat. the west river bank. ams and close cooperation between Other results are a TIE. tanks, infantry, engineers, artillery and ground-attack aircraft. P 24

To counter this, Soviet commanders note adopted the tactic of always keeping TECHNOLOGY TREE the front lines as close to the Germans °No air attack. as physically possible. Chuikov called Level 1 20 pp Level 2 30 pp Level 3 Attacker halved and Defender BONUS. this “hugging” the Germans with an Artillery not affected. attrition war. A D M A D M A D M *Rivers freeze in Snow weather and ALL Aircrafts and Ground Units atta- Production INFANTRY cking and their AA are Halved (Finns, GERMANY: 24 PP, 10 OILS, 3 ARMOR PP Soviets and ALL Mountain Units are and 9 AIR PP per month. not affected). HUNGARY: 1 PP and 1 OIL per month. +For the first round of combat only as RUMANIA: 2 PP and 2 OIL per month. 6 6 3 6 6 4 6 5 4 for rivers. SOVIET UNION: 50 PP (46 PP if not using rule 38), 7 ARMOR PP and 6 AIR PP. **Alpines not halved when attacking, and BONUS when defending. Armor Note that the Soviet Union do not need 6 6 3 5 5 4 4 4 4 Units not allowed. to track OIL consumption, as it has Only Alpines are allowed in bad weather huge reserves in the Caucasus area. If ARMOR turns. this area is lost or cut off (Stalingrad ***Armor Units quartered when atta- is lost or the Volga river is reached by cking. Axis) start tracking OIL consumption as for the German player. 6 5 3 5 5 4 4 4 4 A: Offensive Firepower For all Powers production starts from D: Defensive Firepower July 1941. M: Movement Allowance GA: Ground Attack Special Scenario Rules 6 6 3 6 5 4 5 4 4 AC: Air Combat 1. Barbarossa Surprise. See description in Barbarossa Scenario. GA AC M GA AC M GA AC M 2. Luftwaffe Total Supremacy. FIGHTER See description in Barbarossa Scenario. GROUND UNITS Firepower af- 3. German 1st SS Panzer Corp. fected by weather, terrain and The German 1st SS Panzer Corp arriving Technology level. as reinforcement on turn 44 is an upgra- - 6 5 6 5 5 5 4 10 de of the LSSAH. The LSSAH must be in Artillery affected by Recon only play and in supply. Replace in this case BOMBER if playing with OPT. RULES the LSSAH with the 1st SS Panzer Corp and retain all hits. If the LSSAH is elimi- Air Units affected by weather and nated or out of supply, the replacement Recon if playing with OPT. RULES must be held back. 6 - 10 5 6 10 4 5 15

Victory conditions The Axis player wins if he controls 1 of movement cost attacker defender Moscow/Baku plus 1 of Leningrad/Sta- lingrad and scores a “1” during the Vic- sun rain° snow* ground artillery ground tory Check Phase. units & units The Soviet player wins if he controls except aircraft except Berlin before July 1945. The Victory is artillery artillery Decisive before January 1945, Major if Berlin is conquered between January clear 1 3 2 H - - and June 1945 included. forest 2 3 2 H - - Other results are a DRAW. hills 2 3 3 H - -

mountain 3 3 3 h** - -

swap 3 3 2 h*** - -

river 1 3 2 h*+ - bonus*+

red arrow 3 na 3 quartered + - bonus+

major city 1 3 2 h - bonus

bunker 1 3 2 h halved bonus

fortress 1 3 2 quartered quartered double bonus