Does a game that has German panzers rolling across the Russian Steppes, the Allied Expeditionary force invading Normandy, Rommel and Montgomery dueling in North Africa, and is playable, interest you? The European Theater of World War II has always held the fascination of wargamers. My dream for many years has been to design a World War II European Theater game that allows players to fight the major campaigns using the same basic game system, have enough historical detail to be a good strategic simulation, and be simple enough to be playable and fun.

The Struggle for Europe is such a game, actually a series of games. Volume I of The Struggle for Europe-War Without Mercy covers the war in the east. The campaigns in the West and North Africa will be covered in additional games in the series. Air and naval operations are easily integrated into a clean land system to produce a playable and fun game. Players can fight the campaigns in the East, West, and the Mediterranean with the same basic game system and unit counters. The mapboard is sufficiently large to allow plenty of maneuver and combat as the campaigns develop. The game system emphasizes player strategy and lots of decision making each turn as opposed to complex rules and an intricate sequence of play.

Units

The basic ground unit is the corps which consists of two or three divisions. There are a limited number of division breakdowns and a few airborne or commando brigades. Types of units include armor, motorized, infantry, mountain, cavalry, airborne, and commando. The basic air unit is the wing. There are fighters, ground attack bombers (such as Stukas and Sturmoviks), medium bombers, strategic bombers, and transports. Naval units include aircraft carriers, battleships, cruisers, destroyers, and transports. The number of ships per counter runs from 1 or 2 for capital ships to 10 for destroyers. German U-boats are part of the strategic warfare module. Major leaders such as Montgomery, Patton, Zhukov, and Rommel are also included. There are counters to represent major fortresses as well as Maginot, Siegfried, and Atlantic Wall fortifications.

In the scenarios, players act as Theater Commanders conducting campaigns lasting from 5 to 9 months (10 to 18 turns). In The Struggle for Europe - War Without Mercy there are a 1941 Barbarossa scenario (German onslaught) and a 1943 Kursk (Soviet counteroffensive) scenario. The Barbarossa scenario can be extended through March 1942 if the players so wish. A campaign scenario allows players to refight the entire war in the east from 1941 to 1944. There is also an introductory 4 turn 1939 scenario where Germany invades Poland. The remaining volumes of The Struggle for Europe series will have 1940 and 1944 scenarios in the West, a North Africa scenario, and combined fronts 1939- 1941 and 1943-1944 scenarios, and the 1939-1945 campaign game. In the multi-front campaign scenarios, players act as the General Statf of each country. They allocate forces to the different theaters as well as fight the campaigns.

Weather

Like the actual war, weather plays a major role in The Struggle for Europe. Bad weather affects movement, combat, the length of supply lines, and air/naval operations. Armor units lose their combat die roll modifier (DRM) in mud and snow due to the impairment of their operational mobility and air units have their bombing factor halved primarily due to a lower sortie rate. The really bad ground conditions found in the east during the heavy fall rains and spring thaw are simulated by Heavy Mud. The adverse combat DRM and no exploitation makes attacking difficult and reduces ground operations during these periods. The winterization rules and the Axis first winter in Russia restrictions simulate the problems facing the Germans in the East during the winter of 1941-1942.

The Struggle for Europe fills the void between the extremely detailed Europa ™ series and the more abstract grand strategic Third Reich ™ game. The Struggle for Europe has a lot of historical flavor designed into the counters and mapboard. The charts and tables are relatively few in number and are easy to use. A player turn can be played in approximately 15-20 minutes. The Struggle for Europe is a player's game! While basically a two player game, The Struggle for Europe - especially the War Without Mercy volume and combined fronts scenarios - lends itself well to multiple players. This is a game that World War II gamers will have to try.

War Without Mercy

The time is June 22, 1941. The Wehrmacht stands poised on the Russian border; Operation Barbarossa is about to begin. The German panzers are about to race across western Russia supported by strong Luftwaffe formations. Can the Germans take Leningrad and Moscow and secure a strategic victory before the onset of winter'? Can the Russians recover from the initial onslaught and stop the Germans with their massive manpower reserves? Can the German player hold his army together during the brutal winter of 1941-1942 and launch a successful offensive in the summer of 1942? Will the Russian player be strong enough to drive the Nazi invaders from his homeland in 1943- 1944'?

Play The Struggle for Europe - War Without Mercy and find out. You decide how many panzer corps and how much air support to allocate to each army group. You determine whether Leningrad, Moscow, or Kiev (or all three) will be the primary strategic objective for 1941. You decide where and when to counterattack the advancing Germans and where to unleash the Siberians. You determine where to launch the 1942 German offensive. You decide whether to hold back the Russian reserve in 1942 or attack the weak German sectors of the front. The Struggle for Europe - War Without Mercy provides many opportunities for player decisions within the framework of a good strategic simulation and a playable game. Discover whether you have what it takes to conquer Russia or the capacity to stop the Germans and drive them back.

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