Europe - Summer 1941 – Germany Launches Operation Barbarossa and Britain Gambles for a win in Norway.

In a bold move, German High Command has invaded the Soviet Union breaking through the Baltics and bursting into Belorussia. On the southern flank, Romanian and German troops try to complete the ambitious pincer movement by subduing the Ukraine. On the Western Front, the British try to divert some German attention by attacking Norway. In the Atlantic, the Kriegsmarine duels with the Royal Navy for control of the vital convoy routes to Britain. Will the strategy work? Can the field commanders implement the plan?

This week the Campaign game officially gets underway with Battle Tickets and Fleet Actions for you to play and report. Each week we will be bringing you new tickets or reports of completed battles and we will alternate between the European Theater of Operations (ETO) and the Pacific Theater of Operations (PTO). Five different engagements that are deemed to be crucial to Axis or Allied success will be presented. You will have one week to play out the battles and report the results to High Command at AAR@wizards.com. Play the battles with your friends, online or even solo. You don’t have to sign up to play and you don’t have to stick to a chosen a side - just pick a battle and report the results.

The game board is the strategic map where the battles are represented. We will ultimately have a winning side. Victory is determined by taking victory point cities. On the Europe map the victory point cities are Washington, London, Paris, Rome, Berlin, Leningrad, Stalingrad and Moscow. The Allies need 11 cities and the Axis need 10. Obviously the game can’t be won in just one theater.

The game board (strategic map) is constantly in motion. Red arrows show land based attacks, blue arrows show naval attacks and green arrows show non-combat movement or reaction/reinforcement. The campaign game is different from the standard board game in that each nation’s turn is taken simultaneously. This allows a turn to be completed in a reasonable amount of time and also allows for countries to react or reinforce a territory that has been attacked in the same turn. But just like the board game each piece on the board has an attack and defense value. We use those values in determining the point value ratios for the Battle Tickets and Fleet Actions. Once a battle is played and reported the same ratios are used to convert the point values back into game board pieces. This allows for every piece on the board to be accurately represented in the battles. The outcome of every battle has a direct effect on the entire game.

Let’s take a look at the battles for this first turn. Germany has made a big push into Russia. The German Wehrmacht has attacked the Baltic States and by outnumbering the defending Russians by a ratio of more than 2 to 1 the German panzers slice through in classic blitzkrieg fashion. They attack Belorussia using 3 tanks, a bomber and a fighter. This is a risky move because if the battle goes poorly the Russians are sure to destroy the Germans next turn. The Germans are hoping that the battles in Belorussia and Ukraine are quickly and efficiently won so they can threaten the Russian capital. While they probably won’t have enough forces remaining to take Moscow on the next turn, the tactic should force the Russians to back-peddle and commit to retaking these two key territories. On the Western front, the British have staked a large effort on Norway with an amphibious assault. This, if flawlessly executed, could be a tremendous blow to German power in Scandinavia. But if they lose the battle it will take the English a couple of turns to recoup their lost forces. There is no retreat from an amphibious assault - they either succeed or die trying. In the Atlantic, British destroyers are battling German wolf packs for the important convoy zones. The English must keep the supply lines open. The Royal Navy needs to crush the Kriegsmarine to assure the economic health of the empire. To simulate the effect of German blitzkrieg and the shock of the attack on Russia, the Russians are not allowed to move, attack, react or reinforce during the first turn. The Americans are still neutral and won’t start moving or attacking in the ETO until 1942.