THE SECOND WORLD WAR IN EUROPE, 1939-1945 Burned out on umpteen editions of World in Flames, your wallet afire and your social life in shreds? Are Advanced Third Reich's tortured and arcane rule formulations beginning to read like Oswald Spengler in his dotage? Still longing for a decent simulation of WWII in Europe? Refuse to believe that that wish - or any gaming wish, for that matter, other than several physically impossible suggestions you recently made - could be answered by Doc Decision’s infamous Band of Bumblers? Guess again, gamers! Steve Kosakowki’s rather unique turn on WWII for Decision, Krieg, is about as good as it gets in this rather crowded area of historical simulation. I know you thought you’d never read it here, but the Doctor has A Hit … and it should be a pretty big one. Now, a fellow could be pretty skeptical about a game turned out by a company with a long record of poor development and uninspired designs, here led by an obscure design/development team: Kosakowski, whom I've never heard of, and developer Alan Emrich of "Fire and Movement", "GameFix" and computer gaming fame. Well, shed that skepticism. Whether by alchemy, an unusual planetary alignment, an application of the “200 Monkeys in the Basement” theory, or just hard, intelligent work, Decision Games has turned out a great game covering all 6 years of World War II's murder and mayhem in Europe. Krieg is a "mini-monster" which fits the entire European theater into just two maps, 408 counters, 28 pages of rules and Event Cards. All of the components are top notch except maybe the box art which is a fairly good idea executed badly. Krieg's greatest merit is that it really does simulate World War II on the military, diplomatic and economic levels but is, at the same time, highly accessible and playable on your kitchen table in a weekend. Krieg is, in that respect, reminiscent of VG's Civil War, another powerful and fascinating "mini-monster". Games (the good ones), like people (the good ones), usually have a “soul”. The Egyptians believed the soul resided in the heart, the Zulus thought it was in the bowels and modern Americans have it in their wallets. The heart and soul of Krieg is the cards it uses to generate economic and diplomatic effects, as well as military actions. Those of you who have played card-driven games before are probably hemming their hawing by now, but I can tell you that I have seldom seen such a simple device create so many different outcomes and difficult decisions as these Event Cards while, at the same time, really simulating what World War II was about on more than just a military level. Even better, Krieg’s cards are quite tricky to use. The Germans, for example, have a large number of powerful cards that generate massive forces and crushing offensives. But as they say, "the large print giveth and the small print taketh away". An undisciplined and over-confident German player may, at first, delight in romping all over Europe in the early stages of the game with no heed for the future, but his recklessness will put him well on the way to ruin as early as '43. (Come to think of it, that's about what Hitler did historically!) As deceptively simple as the cards are, they demand astute, well-reasoned play and an ability to think about a game-year ahead of yourself. Having played Krieg a number of times, I'm still trying to figure out optimum strategies. That's not a bad replay value for any game, especially one on strategic World War II, where the action can so easily become stereotyped and predictable. The Krieg cards are titled with the actions the player wishes to perform during the season, some being military offensives, diplomatic moves, or various types of war production. To paraphrase the ebullient developer, each card generates a "mini-campaign" of its own. They come in four flavors: limited war, total war, "blitz", and limited and total war blitz. (The "blitz" cards are chiefly used for major military actions). The game starts with the Limited War cards, very few of which are "blitz" cards, and all of which produce meager numbers of replacements and new units. Neither side can build very large armies while Limited War is in progress. Most of the cards are treaties (used to build up your coalitions, Russian border demands against Finland, Romania, Turkey and the Baltic states), ultimatums (used to invade neutral minors before they have a chance to mobilize or bring in Allies), Allied "coalition" cards (Allies fussing. fuming, and trying, sometimes successfully, to produce a coherent anti-Axis policy), and some low-scale production activities. The one Limited War card that gets the ball rolling is the Mobilization card. This gives Germany a massive influx of new units, and the replacement points required to build them, and allows Germany to add Total War cards to her hand. As soon as Germany plays a Total War card, the Americans enter the war within the year, the Nazi-Soviet Pact ends, and the Allies and Soviets get to use their own Total War cards. The Total War cards themselves represent WWII running at full, “ramming” speed. They offer the players many more offensive options ("blitz" cards), invasions of major countries (the "Barbarossa" card), increased production capabilities, more effective diplomatic events (Comintern Pact, Big Three Conference, Italian, Russian or German ultimatums), and military R&D such as jets and improved submarines. The Total War cards also bring in American reinforcements and introduce strategic warfare for both sides (US intensive bombing and German submarine warfare). In short, the Total War cards kick WWII into high gear. The "blitz" cards occur in both Limited and Total war variants. Blitz cards create lightning campaigns that allow use of airborne units, permit amphibious invasions, and give attackers with armor two rounds of combat. The blitz cards also tend to generate large numbers of replacements used to build new units from the force pool. Blitz cards cannot be fully exploited except in clear weather (no mud) so you tend to save them for summer campaigns. With all the goodies the Event Cards offer, many also contain a poisoned pellet, kind of a neat way to keep you looking over your shoulder. This “Freischutzian magic bullet” is the political event or conditional event listed on most, but not all, cards. For example, the Axis Ultimatum card allows Germany to invade a neutral, but then she has to roll on a political event table (with die roll modifiers). Most of the time, the invasion goes in, but, occasionally, you get a minor concession (read no result) or diplomatic incident. The diplomatic incident can create a pro-Axis coup, free passage (the country becomes a "limited" Axis ally but deploys no forces of its own, making it a sitting duck unless garrisoned) or another neutral minor, like Yugoslavia, suddenly becomes a Western ally (you did remember to garrison Munich and Vienna, didn't you?). There's no experience like invading Norway only to find you suddenly have to rush an army group down to the Balkans! The French Ultimatum card is a handy one for the boys in Feldgrau. At the end of a turn in which a German unit occupies Paris, France collapses, the French army gets pulled off the map, the Brits in France are left holding the bag, and Vichy is declared. The "Barbarossa" card not only allows Germany to invade Russian but yields massive reinforcements. Even more interestingly, at the end of the invasion turn, if a German unit holds a hex of Soviet territory, any minor countries that have had their border areas annexed by Russian immediately become Axis allies and mobilize their armies. (Payback Time!). At some point later in the war, the German will probably be forced to play the Material Shortages card whose political event may lead to Hitler's assassination and a German military junta government. Western Allied goodies include the "Crusade in Europe" card: at the end of a turn in which an Allied unit occupies a French city, Vichy joins the Allies. The Italian Armistice card works in much the same way (hold an Italian city), except that Italy collapses and the Germans have to rush forces southward. The Allied Ultra card lets the Allied player examine the Axis pending (face-down) option card so he gets to know what the Germans are planning the next turn. Big Three Conference Cards are, later in the war, an effective way to get neutrals to join their side. These two can sometimes backfire when the allies roll "Pacific Commitment" on the political events, forcing them to send always-precious air units to the Pacific theater! The cards offer lots of military, diplomatic and economic goodies; however, in the best traditions of good game design, they are very tricky to use. When one card adds large forces added to the force pool (to be built later), you have to be sure you can later play a card that provides the replacement points needed to build those units when needed. If you are going to try to bring a neutral in on your side by playing a treaty card, you should have a reaction force ready to intervene if the other guy invades your new ally. You can pretty well run World War II your own way by how you play the cards … as long as you’re smart and don't lose sight of your long-term goals as well as your current and future abilities. As Developer Al (repeatedly) states, "stay focused". One important point: Krieg has no idiot rules whatsoever -- the idiotic situations are the ones that you yourself create by poor timing of your card play. And, for those with a strong aversion to any whiff of what-if, the event cards are chronologically numbered to allow players to run the war "historically", too. With all this talk about cards, you might get the impression that Krieg is a Reichian version of Magic. Have no fear! There's plenty of military action and counter-bashing. Air units fight for air superiority and support amphibious invasions, armored units get to "blitz" (attack twice), enemy ZOC's are penetrated by maneuver, and artillery units provide defensive and offensive combat column shifts. Most of the military "hardware" in the game is fairly standard, so it is easy to learn. However, with those cards added, you've got a game that goes way beyond the sum of its parts. Not everything in Krieg earns high marks, though …or even passing grades. For one, some rules are scattered around the rule book and require some hunting. For instance, how and when the Italians become active, and what forces they start with, is dispersed through three different rule sections. The wording for use of amphibious beachhead markers is very unclear, and the game could sure use a weather table. Weather is printed onto the turn record and is not variable for seasons. I think a little unpredictability (early winters, early thaws, and so on) would have added a lot to the game at minimal cost in complexity. And for those with a Freudian Fear of Wristage, there is the die-rolling for the treaty cards. In one game, I actually managed to get Belgium and Holland as Axis allies in the winter of '40. One would think that these treaty die rolls should have modifiers to reflect national affinities or aversions to the different camps. As the rules stand, it's entirely possible for Poland to become a German or Russian ally, should either player play the treaty card and roll well. But that’s piddling stuff when seen in the light of the rather bright overall picture. Krieg, for most of you, should be a Must Buy. Buy Krieg if you've never played a WWII strategic game. Buy it if you've played any of the others and want to see an entirely novel and elegant treatment of the war in all aspects. Buy Krieg if you want a World War II game that will replay differently every time you set it up and challenge you to see war as more than just combat factor bean-counting. Actually, forget all of the above; just buy Krieg. Capsule Comments Graphic Presentation: Very nice maps and counters. Ugly box. Playability: Very high. A very smooth learning curve. Solitaire is limited, though. Replayability: Virtually unlimited, thanks to the cards. Wristage: Average Historicity: Because the cards let you do some unusual things, the game sometime wanders outside the parameters of believability. On the other hand, Krieg packs a lot of insightful history into its relatively small package. Creativity: Very high on the Everything Old is New Again scale. Comparisons: More affordable, more elegant, and more fluid than World in Flames. Easily more exciting and accessible than Advanced Third Reich or Europa. Overall: At last, a thinker's game on WWII, and a most welcome fresh breeze in an otherwise fetid area. from DECISION GAMES Two maps, 400 counters, rule book, event cards. Boxed, Decision Games, POB 4049, Lancaster CA 93539. $44 Back to Berg's Review of Games Vol. II # 23 Table of Contents Back to Berg's Review of Games List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1995 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