The ring of the front door was a jarring interruption to the rather overheated daydream through which I had been wandering. Stumbling to the door, I was confronted by the UPS man, bearing in hand a large package in a plain brown envelope. I was trying to figure out just what I had inadvertently ordered when I realized what was at hand: BROG was shipping me to the Eastern Front. The newest Gamer's release in their Operational Combat Series v2.0, Enemy at the Gates, had arrived. And me without my workout belt and hernia insurance. The first thing that strikes you about the game when you lay it out is that with four maps it evokes the image of the vastness of mother Russia … and the fact that you need a very large table to play the campaign game. I took one look at the map and the counter order of battle, and I immediately took Dean's advice and started with a smaller scenario. The saving grace of any monster game is if it offers smaller, bite-size scenarios, so that those of us with nice wives and real lives can play and remain married. Dean has, thankfully done this. Even better, the smaller scenarios are full-fledged games that let you wade in and take the design for a meaningful test spin. My choice of the Chir River Battle scenario was based on two reasons. Firstly, it was the smallest. And, second, it had some background in personal experience. Back in 1980, I was in charge of running a conference where German WWII Generals Balck and Von Mellenthin were brought in to discuss how NATO could employ their WWII experience on the Chir River against the then-current Soviet threat in Europe. A wargame I designed was used to fight out Balck's orders as applied to the US 3rd Armored Division against a Soviet attack in the Fulda Gap region. At the symposium, Balck related how he first used mobile infantry screens to conduct an orderly withdrawal in front of Soviet armored penetrations and then used his panzer regiment (15th of the 11th Panzer) to strike into the flank and rear of the enemy advance and smash it. His ability to repeatedly conduct this maneuver lead to his stabilizing the front in the face of superior enemy forces… and that with a 15th Panzer regiment that never had more than 12 to 24 operational tanks on any given day! EatG is an Operational game that covers the campaign in Southern Russia from November, 1942 to March, 1943. Each hex represents approximately 5 miles, and each game turn covers 3 days of combat. Units represent Divisions, Regiments, Battalions (usually Armor or special units), and air units (distinguished by mission type), with Corps/ Army HQ's used as supply conduits. Combat units are rated for combat strength, movement allowance, and action rating (tactical ability). This last rating is important since it is here that the superior tactical skill of the German units is represented. To give any design a fair test one needs to have some measurement criteria. The Chir scenario - and the comments of Generals Balk and Mellenthin - would enable me to see if EatG would allow me to use the tactics of the day to achieve success on the Chir River. The Soviets started off by grabbing the initiative. One thing that you quickly learn is that a line of infantry Alert Battalions and Breakdown Regiments is going to get pierced somewhere. Combine this with the general lack of ZOC's and you have a game of dramatic armor maneuver. This I liked very much. In fact, in my initial play-through the Soviet 5 Mechanized Corps, in Reserve Mode, exploited a breakthrough and took the scenario objective while simultaneously wreaking havoc with the German supply lines. The subsequent battles revolved around the Germans attempting to take it back. Based on this initial run-through I learned the value of the Reaction phase, whereby the non-phasing player can maneuver forces into potential problem areas. However, since this phase precedes the enemy Combat and Exploitation Phases, coupled with the maneuver options available, it didn't help much in this situation. What you discover quickly is that EatG is very bloody. The game embraces the design philosophy that units quickly become combat ineffective and need replacements to bring them back into the fray. Most battles have at least one side take a step loss, and since all Brigade, Regiment, and Battalion sized formation are one step units, it is the rare battle where some unit isn't removed. This means that linear defenses are easily breached, and armor units can exploit easily. You really need to think ahead on where your reserves need to be located or really bad things can happen to you. I like games that punish mistakes. In my several testings, I found you could replicate Balck's famous 11th Panzer Division maneuvers by hitting a breakthrough unit in front with a combined Mechanized infantry+antitank stack while the 15th Panzer Regiment maneuvered to surround the Soviets with its ZOC (term of convenience). The subsequent battle has the Germans using their higher Action Rating to gave them a 41% probability of a Surprise column shift against the Soviet 1st Tank Corps. That combat resulted in the destruction of a Soviet Tank Brigade and the decimation of another because of their retreat through the German ZOCs. This result accurately captured the essence of the historical result. Good Show, Dean! If I had any problem with the combat system it was with the high level of effectiveness of artillery against armor. I understand the philosophy of high attrition being offset by rapid re-building from the dead pile. The problem that I had was the extraordinary ability of artillery to remove armor units. A typical Soviet Artillery Brigade has a barrage strength which gives it a 33% probability (in some cases) of eliminating a German Panzer battalion. I disagree because it has been only recently that precision guided munitions could hold armor units at such risk. I have no problem with disorganization results, but I can think of very few cases where this kind of result is warranted. Conversely, a German artillery regiment has a 25% probability of doing the same to a Soviet Tank Brigade. I suggest you consider a house rule here where results against pure armor units be reduced to disorganized. I should add that overall the artillery effects against all other types of units seems about right given the attrition philosophy I mentioned earlier. It would appear that, with dramatic armor breakthroughs and lethal artillery, this game could easily get out of control. What keeps you honest are the supply rules which are quite easy to use but place realistic constraints on how often the powerful artillery can barrage and the ability to maneuver, since fuel must be expended for movement. The supply rules are a major dimension of EatG, and they create a series of important, but easily implemented, decisions that give this game a nice operational flavor, a level of supply integration missing in most other East Front games. Because I stuck to the small Chir scenario for this review, I didn't look very closely at the air game other than to examine a few little scenarios I created to get the feel of it. My impression is that it adds an important layer of detail to the larger scenarios, with some impact on play time. If you're playing the big scenarios you probably wanted the detail anyway. Enemy at the Gates has a good East Front feel, the systems are well thought out - with the minor exception of the artillery/ armor issue about which I spoke - and the game plays fairly smoothly. true, it’s a big one, but I liked its feel, and I recommend it to anyone who likes operational level armor games. For all you East Front types, I don’t think much convincing is needed. Ah … must run. A fax is coming in. Must be Berg, once again, trying to slip some more chaff into the wheat of my GBoH designs. Will he never learn? CAPSULE COMMENTS: Graphic Presentation: Excellent, crisp and concise. Very “Gamers”. Playability: For the smaller scenarios it moves along crisply. For the Campaign game, if you're playing it, time isn't a factor in your life. Replayability: Good for the smaller scenarios, whereas how many times are you going to play the campaign game? So don't worry about it. Wristage: Send the orthopedic bill to Dean. Creativity: No concepts you haven't seen before, but the integration of design components is smoothly done. Historicity: OB’s and situational material appear to be accurate. As per Balck, I do question the full strength nature of most of the German armor units at this point in the war. Comparison: This game is on a scale with the “Europa” series and the various “Radey in the East” games, such as Korsun Pocket. In that crowd, this is far superior and more playable. Overall: Highly recommended for those interested in 20th century maneuver warfare situations and all East Front aficionados… with lots of time on their hands. from THE GAMERS Four 22" x 32" unmounted map; 2,240 die cut counters; Series and Game Rules; two chart & table booklets; four player aid, turn record & terrain cards; dice. The Gamers Inc., 500 W. 4th St., Homer, IL 61849. c. $60 Back to Berg's Review of Games Vol. II # 15 Table of Contents Back to Berg's Review of Games List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1993 by Richard Berg This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com