The very subject of this game - the entire European/Mediterranean/Russian theatre of WWII - promises to make it one of (if not the) most popular and successful games Avalon Hill has ever published. What's more, it seems to be well put together. I wish I could compare it to SPI's WWII for you, but they don't send us review copies of anything but their magazines, so I haven't seen it.

Like 1776, it comes in a bookcase-type box but without any outer slipcase. The 22" x32" mapboard, of typical AH quality, comes in three sections: one half right out of the middle, which folds into quarters, and two outer sections which each fold once. There are three and a half of the normal-sized sheets of 1/2" unit counters. A 48-page. 8"x11" booklet contains the rules, designer's notes. historical notes and tips for each nation on strategy and tactics of play. There are also five 5 1/2"x8" scenario cards.

In keeping with current practice. THIRD REICH includes rules for several different versions of the game - in this case, six: a "Campaign Game" of 24 turns, which runs from the invasion of Poland to Germany's final defeat or victory; an "Advanced Game" providing additional complexity and realism; a "Multi-player Game" providing for 3 to 6 players, in which even the Italian player can be the winner; and three 12-turn scenarios Fall 1939 - Summer 1942, Spring 1942 Winter 1944, Spring 1944 - Fall of Berlin - which allow you to play quicker games based upon your favorite part of the War.

As it says on the box, "...THIRD REICH is not for the faint of heart or the beginner ... A complex and highly detailed game systemi it requires the utmost concentration and effort from its players." They rate its complexity level as "Tournament IV", the highest yet. Personally I don't think it s as complex as PANZERBLITZ (which they rate as Tournament III) or more than 1776 (Tournament II) -- at least not for an experienced boardgamer, since it is more conventional. mechanically, than either of those.

There are six countries in the game that qualify as major powers. These are Germany, Italy, Britain, France, Russia and the United States. (The latter of course, is not on the map board. Each turn represents one season, or 1/4-year. At the beginning of each spring each major power receives a number of Basic Resource Points (BRPs) proportional to its industrial base and modified by the number of BRPs left unused from last year (and therefore invested in expansion) and the loss or gain of territories having BRP values. These BRPs are used to build land, sea. and air units of various types (and having various costs), to support the cost of conducting offensives or declaring war, or can be given, loaned or traded to other countries.

Each major power already has some forces in being at the beginning of a scenario or campaign game. And there are limits to the types and numbers that each power can build, reflecting actual national limitations, and economic facts of life.

The mechanics of land warfare are not terribly different from most board games. Each Unit counter represents aproximately 4 to 8 divisions. Only armored units have zones of control. This seemed at first to be exactly opposite of what it should be, but such an attitude stems from thinking in terms of tactical or operational level combat.

At this strategic level only mechanized units had sufficient mobility to intercept enemies trying to outflank them. Unmechanized units required a continuous front to prevent infiltration. It must also be remembered that an armored corps is hardly all tanks. It has plenty of ground-holding infantry as well. Besides armor and infantry, other ground units are replacement units and airborne corps. Armor units also have an ability to exploit breakthroughs with an extra movement phase - under certain, limited circumstances. Naval units consist only of conglomerate, surface fleets - no specialized units. They have no specific movement rate but can go anywhere the sea goes, within a given "Front" or transfer to another Front if that country has a naval base there. There are 3 such Fronts on the board: Eastern, Western and Mediterranean. These are defined by red lines on the map. One line starts along the West coast of Morocco and Spain along the northern border of Spain and south of France along the northern borders of Italy, Yugoslavia and Rumania, down the east coast of the Black Sea, along its southern coast and along the border between Turkey and Russia. Everything south of this line is on the Mediterranean Front. Everything north of it is either on the Eastern or the Western Front. These are divided by a line running along the 1939 Polish-German border, the north coast of Germany to the east coast of Denmark, south coast of Norway and along the Swedish-Norwegian border.

Naval units are used primarily for transport of land and air units and BTRs, but can also be used to support ground combat on coastal hexes or to engage each other in naval combat. Air units, also. are unspecialized. You've seen one, you've seen 'em all.

Unique

The most unique feature of THIRD REICH is this division of the map into Fronts. Each turn each major power must decide which of three strategic "Options" it will use on each front (of course, if a power has no forces on a given front no Option is necessary).

The Offensive Option allows the player to attack in the normal boardgame manner using a fairly conventional CRT. However, this Option costs the major power 15 BRPs every time for every front on which it's used. So, for the Germans to conduct simultaneous offensives on all three fronts it would cost them 45 BRPs - about 1/3 of a year's production, or enough to raise 15 corps of infantry!

The Pass Option costs no BRPs and is used when a power does not wish to engage in activity on a Front, is neutral and does not wish to declare war on anybody, or if it cannot afford to or does not desire to join in an Offensive Option conducted by an Ally on that Front.

The most unique idea is the Attrition Option. This one, also, costs no BRPs. You total all the factors of all ground units on the same Front and consult the Attrition Resolution Table (ART). Here you do not use odds. The strength of the defender does not matter. But the more factors you have in contact the greater your chances of causing the enemy to lose - and the greater his loss. The defender's losses are in terms of counters, not factors, and the defender decides which units to lose. The CRT will also indicate the number of enemy-occupied hexes which the attacker may occupy if he wishes. He moves his counter(s) in, and the defender must then move out. However, hexes containing a fortress. capital, bridgehead, or one defined as an "objective" cannot be occupied by attrition. It is possible (and usual) to utilize different Options an different Fronts on any given turn.

The "Advanced Game"

This is merely a few rules that are added to simulate a few specialized situations (with 2 exceptions, which I'll cover last). These cover: slight differentiations between the different powers' ability to use "Strategic Redeployment" (This is a rule allowing a few units to be moved over unlimited distances, provided they have a route free of enemies); rebuilding eliminated naval units; limiting the forces Germany (but not Italy) can maintain in North Africa according to the amount of naval and air factors the Allies keep in Malta; how to get Vichy France to join the Axis or to not resist Allied invasion (If France is conquered the Vichy regime is automatically established as a minor country); the effect of the loss of Gibraltar; and the Campaign Game victory conditions.

The first of the two exceptions mentioned covers Strategic Warfare. This rule allows the British and Americans to build strategic bomber (SAC) units and/or anti-submarine (ASW) units, and for the Germans to build U-Boats and/or interceptors, at the start of each year. These are placed face down in the Strategic Warfare box on the board. Before BRPs are handed out at the beginning of the next year these counters are turned up. Each German interceptor counter cancels out one Allied SAC counter, and both are eliminated. In like manner each ASW counter cancels out one U-Boat counter. For each surviving SAC counter German BRPs are permanently reduced by 2. And for each surviving U-Boat counter the British or American (Germany decides which) BRP level is reduced by 3.

The other special Advanced Rule provides for eliminating a little of each players advantage of hindsight. There are many things about WWII that we all now know were "inevitable" or impossible, but which were not so known at the time. So we can go into a game such as this with the absolute assurance that, for instance, Turkey will stay neutral. Germany will not develop jet fighters in time to seriously interfere with the Allied bombing program, France will not fight on from North Africa, etc. These, of course, are things that could not have been safely assumed by actual leaders during the real war. This rule attempts to throw some uncertainty on such questions into the gonw as well. A "Minor Variation Chart" lists 10 such "what ifs" for each side. There are unit counters provided which are numbered 1 thru 10. The British player and the German each draw one of these blind and keep them secret. The numbers drawn indicate which minor variations are in force from their respective charts. They keep these secret until it is time to put their variation into effect.

THIRD REICH is designed basically as a 2 player game in which one player takes Germany and Italy and the other has Britain, France, Russia and the U.S. At the start of the 1939 scenario and the Campaign Game, of course, Italy, Russia and the U.S. are still neutral. Italy can join in any time the Axis player wants to pay the necessary BRPs for a declaration of war. Russia cannot declare war prior to Summer 1941 unless Germany does so first, and the U.S. doesn't come in - under any circumstances - until Spring 1942.

However, the game is well suited for more than two players, and there is a detailed chart provided showing how to divide VPs the countries in each scenario for three, fourp five or six players. Of course, the ultimate version would be the Campaign Game (with the Advanced Game rules) and six players - one for each major power.

Mechanically, while complex, the game seems to work well and provide the players with most of the strategic options and problems actually existing in the real situation. The major omission seems to be a lack of consideration for Finland's role in the war.

Firstly, only the southern end of it is on the map, and since Helsinki is the only Finnish city shown, and it is not rated as a port, there is no way Germany can send any forces to reinforce the Finns. But, worst of all, the designer seems never to have heard of the 1940 Russo-Finnish War, The Mannerheim Line of fortifications do not exist, and the Russo-Finnish border on the mapboard looks more like the 1940 border than the 1939 one. And, of course, without the northern part of Scandinavia, the expedition that Britain and France had planned to send to Finland's aid (via northern Norway and Sweden) is impossible to simulate (though in the real event only the unexpected Finnish capitulation forestalled the Allied plan). And since it isn't on the map there's no way to capture Murmansk and cut off that supply route.

A couple of other inaccuracies are the impossibility of making an amphibious landing at Anzio, and the impossibility of crossing the Suez canal without a fleet to transport you from Suez to Port Said!

Despite these problems (which are easily overcome by common-sense agreements between players) I believe this game has tremendous potential in both tvto-player and multi-player formats. And, if you're interested in the subject. it should prove well worth the $10.00 price tag.

Credits for THIRD REICH are as follows: Historical Research and Design, John Prados; Game Development and Components Design, Donald Greenwood; Artwork. W. Scott Moores and Humbert Olivari

Speaking of artwork, this game will win no prizes in that category. The box cover art was well conceived, but poorly executed. The mapboard colors are too contrasting to be very pleasing to the eye, but for that very reason it is very easy to "read". There is never any doubt as to the nature of the terrain in any given hex, and the various mountain ranges, borders, river lines, etc. jump right out at you. You can't miss 'em.

In addition to the map, the board contains the CRT, ART, Time Track. BRP Costs Chart. Interception Table (for naval ba ttles), Minor Country Forces (O.B.) chart, Strategic Warfare box. Lend Lease box and Murmansk Convoy box. These are all superimposed over various ocean, desert and other areas not really needed for play.

The unit counters are colorful, and, for the most part, colors are assigned to countries in a logical manner. British are an orangish-tan, Americans are olive-green, Russians a greenish-brown, French medium blue. Germans black, Italians greenish-gray, Turks light tan, Spanish medium tan, minor Axis nations grey, and neutrals brown.

THIRD REICH is available from hobby shops,department stores, gift shops, etc. across the country, and from us at PANZERFAUST.

Complexity Level

Alexander the Great Intermediate II
Anzio Tournament II
Jutland Tournament II
Chancellorsville Intermediate III
Third Reich Tournament IV
Panzer Leader Tournament IV

More Six From Avalon Hill Game Profiles

Rise and Decline of the Third Reich
Chancellorsville
Anzio
Alexander the Great
Jutland
Panzer Leader