"German Blitzkrieg in WWII," by Tom Oleson (published in Campaign #74), presents an innovative, interesting approach to the play of SPI's World War II. However, the plan has several flaws and offers only a marginal victory as the best result the German player can achieve. The following article is divided into two parts, the first discussing Mr. Oleson's plan and the second revealing my plan.

German Blitzkrieg?

The first item is that Mr. Oleson's plan does not achieve maximum utilization of force. The idea of knocking out France by an attack on Russia on turn one is quite novel and, within the plan's framework, the tactic of withdrawing strength from the French border while still attacking France is logical and valid.

However, overruning of Poland does not require three armies to end their turn there. One of them can still keep moving and reach the Russian border, thereby adding more to the attack there. In all fairness, it should be noted that the rules for overrun often get very confusing with one having to sort through the original rules and two errata sheets! Here is my "revision" of the first move-everything remains the same except: the 3 inf. in 1513 overruns the Pole in 1613 and proceeds to 1811. The 3 inf. in 1714 moves to 1810; the 3 inf. in 1411 goes to 1809. All the attacks are the same, except one additional Russian unit may be attacked at "+1."

I have two reservations about this - they are called France and Russia. The French benefit from this strategy by being given a golden opportunity to evacuate France. They should, as it means the French will never turn collaborator. In this event, any sort of Mediterranean policy for the Axis is out of the question.

The Russian problem is more extreme. One of the most important factors is that the Russians will get back more units than they can possibly lose. Furthermore, Russia is left alone for at least the next two turns, which does little to reduce Russia's strength.

There are other objections to this plan, namely: 1) The Russians may now build 3-strength-point units. This makes it impossible for the German to overrun them, which is often crucial in an invasion; 2) The Russians may now stack. This not only strengthens their defensive posture, but also gives them the ability to attack.

While Mr. Oleson does point out that the German can construct unbreachable defense lines, this is hardly the correct method to conquer Russia. Also, to hold the line, the German will lose at least 2 strength points per turn. Since this is happening during the period of maximum German reinforcements, he can hardly afford to forgo these for replacements. Yet, since he is not using replacements, the German army cannot grow to the size it needs to be; 3) Finally, the Russians can now attack pro-Axis nations with the goal of eliminating their armies. While Rumania, Bulgaria, and Hungary help the Axis, only marginally, Finland is a big prize the Russians should grab immediately. The German usually can use Finland to threaten the northern flank of the Russian line, and often picks up the resource center at Murmansk for free. In conclusion, I cannot recommend this plan for an Axis player looking for a decisive victory. Since it will be almost impossible for the Axis to conquer Russia after activating it the best he can achieve is a marginal victory-and he can get that by never attacking Russia! 

The Axis Triumphant

Many people consider the Axis as the underdogs when playing World War II. Even Mr. Oleson echoes this idea in his closing paragraph. In reality, the Allies have an almost impossible task of preventing an Axis decisive victory. Of course, the campaign in Russia will determine this, but the turns before the invasion are crucial, especially the first. The following will give a turn-by-turn conduct for the German from the first turn to the invasion of Russia.

Axis Turn 1

France is at her weakest in this turn, and due to the fact that Britain has to be garrisonned, British response is very limited. German movement: the 4 arm. in 1714 overruns the Pole in 1613; the 3 inff from 1411 overruns the Dutch (1011); the 3 inff from 1412 joins him; the 2 inff on 1112 goes to 1412; the 1 para. goes to 1210; the 3 inff on 1513 and 1514 go to 1113 and 1114; while the armor that was stacked with them go to 1214 and 1315; the 3 inff on 1714 and 1614 go to 1314. Although Italy is neutral, the German may still move Italian units: the 1 in! on 1316 goes to 1016 (and will build up with the unit there); the 1 inff in Rome goes to 1116 (so that it will be in a fair weather zone next turn); the I inf. on 1324 moves to 1824 by sea.

Combat phase: the units on 1412 and 1611 attack the Pole on 1512, and both advance in after combat (since they are both 2 inf., they build to a four); the 4 arm. attacks the Pole in Warsaw, advance into the hex after combat; the Germans on 1113 and 1114 attack 1013 at "+7," which destroys the French unit there; the Germans advance one stack into that hex; after the preceeding attack, the Belgian 2 inff is attacked from 1011 at "+4," but since the Belgian is now surrounded, it is eliminated and the Germans once again advance. Reinforcements and Build-up/Break-down has two 4 inf. appear in 1113 (assumes German advance into 1013) and one 1 arm. appears on either of the two 3 arm., building it to a 4. All stacks of 3 on the board should become a 4 and a 2. The two 2's in 1512 build to a four.

Allied Turn 1

At this point, there arises a problem I call the Polish Partition. In a nutshell, is the non-German part of Poland now Russian territory or not? Due to the sloppy rules writing, it is not at all clear. I will give three interpretations that have been used.

The first attempts an historical solution-on turn one, the Russian armies occupy Poland by having the armies along the border move southwest (i.e., 1913 goes to 1813, 1912 to 1713, etc.) until they close with the partition line. On turn four, they may occupy the Baltic countries in the same manner. This is the solution I most favor.

The second solution rules that eastern Poland has become Russian-controlled, but that the Russians may not move. In this case, Polish reinforcements are lost because all hexes are in either German or Russian zones-of-control.

The third solution denies Poland is given to the Russians. This is the closest interpretation of the rules, but also the least logical. It's along the lines that the Russians agree to split Poland, but then forget about it when the time comes. The reason anyone would uphold the third solution is that it places three Polish strength points in front of the Russians, forcing the German to go through these first if he wishes to invade Russia. Although I favor the first solution, this article is written upon assuming the third, as this is the hardest for the Axis.

France on the first turn looks to a very bleak future. Her borders are already overrun, and there is not enough strength left to counterattack. France has two basic choices: to retreat to Africa or stay in Europe hoping to slow down the German. Retreat does not appear feasible, for in order to implement it, the 3 inf. on 1014 must go to Marseilles. If this is done, then the Italians enter the war and bring the units from 1116 to 1016 to 916. This cuts supply to Marseilles and gives a 67% chance of destroying the French there. The Axis can also cover his bets by moving 7 to 8 German strength points to 1016; Marseilles is now covered with an air zoc, making it virtually impossible for units to leave by sea. The stay-and-fight option does not appear much better. In this case, leave the unit on 1014. Have a 3 inf. reinforcement appear on 813; the remaining reinforcements appear on 814, 815, 915, or 716. This way, only two French units can be attacked. Pull the units from Africa back to France, as this makes France last longer and also clears Africa should the British decide to operate in Vichy territory. Britain has little to do on turn one because the 2 inf. in 811 is under German air zocs from 1012. For protection of Suez, the French 1 inf. in 2522 should go there.

Axis Turn 2

The Germans in Northern France should advance in such a way as to guarantee eliminating the two French 3's. The 4 inf. on 1512 can help, if the German so desires. The 2 inf should be stacked so they can build to 4's. The Italians must enter the war on this turn; if not, then the German time table is fatally slowed. The Italians move as indicated in the last paragraph, with a good chance of eliminating any units in Marseilles. More important, at least 7 German strength points must go to 1016; these spell France's doom when they cross the Alps next turn. Two Italian 2's should stack in 1116. The German 1 para. should move by sea to Finland, thereby activating that country. To complete the sea movement, bring the Italian from Africa back to Italy! The Germans under this plan have neither the time nor the troops for an African adventure; the Italians by themselves cannot hope to do anything.

German reinforcements this turn should be a 4 inf., a 1 inf. (which appears on 1210 and goes to Finland next turn), and a 1 arm. (to build the last 3 arm. up to a four). This should be the last armored strength point the Germans build in the game as they are too expensive and not that useful. The German continues to build up his units to 4's whenever possible. It should be obvious by now that the German is using the time he takes for the conquest of France to prepare his army for the Russian campaign.

The Allies' fortunes are no better this turn, as France cannot hold out much longer. France has the opportunity to kill the Italians on 916; this starts the Italians on the long road to surrender (and it will be a long road for there are no easy kills in Africa). Anything the British send to France will be lost in the collapse; therefore strength should be sent to Suez. Even with French reinforcements appearing, it looks hopeless.

Axis Turn 3

The Germans in Italy enter France. If there is a hex open, the Italians on 1116 enter as well. The Germans continue their advance in the North; be sure to leave four hexes free for the Vichy state (usually 513, 612, 613, and 713 when using this plan). The I inf. in 1210 goes to Finland while the German already there travels by rail and stacks with the Finnish reinforcement that should appear adjacent to Murmansk. The attacks on this turn should destroy the remaining French units.

I assume that the German player will make his attacks in such an order that the strongest French units will be out of supply before being attacked. Even if some French units survive, there won't be enough to prevent Vichy from being declared. All German units should be 4's at the end of this turn. The Allied player can do what he likes, but doesn't have much to do it with.

Axis Turn 4

All German units in the West use rail movement his turn to bring them to the Axis-Soviet border. Use the Italians to garrison France; the British will not have any amphibious points for a long time, which means France, Italy, and Germany are quite safe. Some Italians may be sent East; I personally do not favor this as their contribution is minor while the risk of losing them is high (thus bringing Italy a step closer to surrender).

Stacks of two 4's should go from 1610 to 1814; one stack of 4's to 2015, and the remainder (which depends upon what happened in the French campaign) on 1915. The second German in Finland goes to 1906.

Axis Turn 5

The Invasion of Russia. This is the goal that the past four moves have been working for. With France gone and Britain still very weak there will be no worries about the West for a long time. Lend-Lease is also a long ways off; it should arrive too late to make any difference. Partisans also won't be much of a problem. The final good point is that the Russian will not be able to take advantage of the first winter rule due to weakness and disorganization. If the German has bungled the French campaign, then this invasion won't be able to take place until turn 6 or 8 (attacking in spring has little to say for it); while there are still good chances for victory, the optimum invasion time would be lost.

The invasion tactics are fairly simple. Often, the 1 para. in Finland can capture Murmansk for free. In any case, it should go to 1904 so that the Russian in 1905 is surrounded and should be destroyed. In the main theater, things are even better! If the first or second solution to the Polish Partition is chosen,, then the German can take Leningrad on the first turn (it is assumed here that the majority of the Russian reinforcements have been placed out of the German's reach; if not, then Leningrad may not fall this turn, but the Russians will lose more units). He cannot do this on the third solution, as he has to get rid of the Polish army besides the Soviet front line. The Russian units on 1913 and 1914 can and therefore should be overrun (from 1814 and 171.4), while 2215 is overrun from 2015, the overrunning units halting on 2315, thus putting the resource centers around Rostov in a zoc. The units on 1915 can capture the centers around 2112. All other German units should be doing their best to destroy every adjacent Russian unit.

Axis Turn 6, etc

Although it is winter and the Russians are therefore doubled, substantial progress can still be made. The first turn of invasion should have seen at least ten centers fall to the Germans; three more should fall this turn. But above all, try to eliminate as many Russians as possible. As long as the Russians are weak at the end of a German turn, it really doesn't matter how many centers they control. The Russian will still be able to attack this winter; count on losing 10-15 German strength points. The majority of the losses will be replaced in the spring, a period when the Russian can do little to profit from any German weakness. The secret of German success in the East can be stated very simply: keep your units in stacks of 8 and always attack. The ability to get 8 strength points in a stack is the only lasting advantage the German has over the Russian, but it is enough to win the game.

Using the above plan, the events of 1941 should be: Leningrad and Rostov fall quite early in the year; the German has a good chance to take Moscow; the Russian can only deny it by being willing to absorb tremendous losses; if the Russians misplay the South, Stalingrad will fall and the Caucasus threatened; Archangel is another target; but Murmansk will still hold out if the Russians garrisonned it before the war. The British do not have much to do; they can send units to Russia, but they arrive too late to do much this year. They should arrive via Persia, as Murmansk is too chancey to land at.

1942 is a big year for the Axis. If the German has somehow managed to flub the Russian campaign, he should get out now, before the Russians are too strong. More likely is a German drive rolling the Russians back on all fronts. Moscow, Murmansk, and Astrakhan all go. The Caucusus is held because of British troops there. The Russian should be in serious straits at the end of the year.

Soviet collapse is the agenda for 1943. They will be defending the Urals but do not have enough strength to counterattack. The Germans push the British out of Russia and begin to overrun the Middle East, Palestine is the first place the British can hope to hold. A simple German tactic this year is to stop sending replacements East, but build up in the West. The rest of the war should see the Allies unable to get a toehold in Europe against virtually the entire German army.

This plan is the result of several years of careful testing. It relies heavily on the fact that the Germans are able to cash in on their early superiority to set up a lasting advantage. Using this plan, the Germans should win at least 75% of the time. (I am being conservative here. The plan will work over 90% of the time against players who are not familiar with it.) The situation looks bleak for the Allies, but they can come back if the German makes even a minor error in thearly part of the game.