The following Scorched Earth trick was contributed by Martin Kanfer:

"Here's a slick trick which smacks of gamesmanship. I call it 'Neutral Finland.' When playing with the variable Finnish participation rule (39C), set up and move the Finns as if Finland were neutral. Don't set up or move Germans into the country. After a sufficient interval a relieved Soviet will slowly strip the front line along the Finnish border to the bare minimum. At this time, strike! Finns will step lively across the undefended border and only a supreme Soviet effort can stop this brilliant maneuver. Obviously it can only be used against any opponent one time."

I'm not so sure of that. Let's assume the above trick works to perfection. Further suppose that in the following game the Axis actually draw a "2" and Finland is neutral. The Soviets could think the Huns are trying the same trick again and perhaps commit extra garrison forces.

However, Mr. Kanfer may have overlooked or underestimated rule 31H1. Since Finland must be assumed "a neutral country" while displaying a passive stance, the Soviets are required by 31H1 to maintain a garrison of 50 REs within 3 hexes of the border with Finland. Moreover, every transportation line crossing the Soviet-Finnish border must be occupied by or in the ZOC of a Soviet unit.

The presence of this rather formidible defense force, some of which will be astride every transportation line leading into Russia from Finland, would seem to argue against pulling off a complete Blitzkrieg "across the undefended border." BUT...

There's more slickery involved here than first meets the eye. The beauty of rule 39C is that the Soviets are not shown the card drawn by the Axis player until the end of the game. In the interim, while Finland feigns neutrality, the Soviets must assume that Finland is, in fact, neutral. Depending on the style of play of your opponent, this tactic can still bear fruit, even if in a different way than Mr. Kanfer describes. Here's how.

Since this ruse requires the Soviets to maintain a 50-RE border garrison, it prevents the use of "TAR" (The Arctic Runaway, see issue #13 "From the Editor" and also #14 "EXchange"). At the same time it prohibits the Soviets from invading Finland, since they are required to abide by rule 31B and observe Finland's "neutrality" so long as the Finns continue to sit on their hands.

So if your Axis opponents get their jollies by routinely pounding the Finns, or if they have shown past tendencies to negate the Finnish Army by using "TAR," you might consider the above trick, if for nothing more than to disrupt their plans. And if the Soviets get careless enough, you just might be able to score a resounding border victory using Mr. Kanfer's surprise attack, as well.

Nowhere to Hide

One of the most time-honored tricks of the Europa system is to prevent bomber units from being bombed on the ground by putting them aloft, flying either harassment or DAS missions. A canny gamer can turn this enemy tactic to his own advantage by using the following counter-trick.

To set the stage, let's consider a German player who is in the midst of a drive on Leningrad in 1941. He is approaching a partially manned Luga defense line and has just captured Novgorod (2A:1731) during his movement phase. Since he is lacking airbases in the area, he can not provide adequate fighter protection for any bomber he positions at Novgorod-- a tempting target for the half dozen Soviet fighters in Leningrad.

On the other hand, our hypothetical Hun badly wants to reduce the flow of new Soviet men and materiel into the Luga defense line. The solution which he adopts is to stage a Ju87B forward to Novgorod and then dispatch it on a harassment mission to Tikhvin, which is conveniently out of intercept range of Leningrad, as well as astride a major rail link into Leningrad from the outside world. With his Stukas safely aloft, he sighs in relief at having thwarted the VVS once again, and sits back contentedly.

But what is this? The crazy Soviets are sending their fighters to strafe the empty runways at Novgorod anyway! Without Luftwaffe fighters to prevent this, a hit is achieved, reducing the airbase's capacity to zero. Of course, there was no damage to any aircraft, since none were present. Fritz chuckles at the folly of Soviet air tactics and sets about making his next move.

Let's see, initial phase, step two--land late-returning air units. Uh Ohl The only airbase within range of our cocky Stuka pilots is that patch of potholes at Novgorod, which now has a capacity of zero!

Rule 17A states that "...an air unit may not land at an airbase if its capacity is currently 0." So the Ju-87B air group crashes, landing in the remnants box, being literally "destroyed on the ground" (Rule 26A3). Just punishment, you say?

Fighters can become quite complacent as well, content in the knowledge that if enemy aircraft suddenly appear overhead, they can nimbly scramble away to safety. However, there is a trick to catch such planes off-guard, under the correct circumstances. Let's set the stage again.

The front has stabilized at the Luga-Narva line and the Germans have established Me109E fighter groups at Luga and Novgorod while the main fighting has shifted further south. Although each Me109E is individually vulnerable, they take comfort in knowing that if the going gets too rough, they can simply scramble away to Dno or Pskov.

The VVS, however, has different ideas. Two I-16 fighter units move to bomb Dno and Pskov, while two mission forces of top-quality fighter and bomber groups fly to the bases containing the Messerschmidts. The scramble rule (20B) states that a fighter "may not scramble to an airbase that is the target hex of any enemy air units."

The Me109Es are now on the horns of a dilemma--they can come up and intercept or stay on the ground. If they take off they must run a gauntlet of enemy fighters who will jettison their bombs and line up for a shot at the outnumbered German aviators.

Furthermore, while the Me109s dogfight, Soviet bombers will be bombing their airfields, and if a hit is achieved, the 109s will end up in the remnants box (if they haven't already been shot down), for there will be no viable airbase within their 3-hex range during the interceptor return step.

If they stay on the ground, they will be bombed heavily by the whole mission force. Not a pleasant option either. The whole affair is very bad news for the Messerschmidts.

But wait, you say. Those I-16s bombing Pskov and Dno to prevent scramble to those bases were incapable of achieving a hit on the Scorched Earth Bombing Table, even though their tactical bombing strength of "0" was raised to a "1" by flying an airbase bombing mission. Doesn't matter. They fulfilled the requirement of rule 20B.

Of course, if you have adopted the Balkan Front airbase bombing rule and Bombing Table, then these tricks are even more powerful. But they work well under the old rules too, so keep them in the back of your mind during play.

Victor Hauser

I would like to welcome Victor to the masthead of the magazine. Vic has been playing an ever-increasing Europa role over the last year, and it is only proper to recognize his contribution at this time. Victor is an extremely talented player, a prolific writer and a personal friend. Additionally, his job as stack supervisor at the University of Texas library provides an obvious enhancement to the research capabilities of our staff. All in all, Victor is an excellent addition to our editorial and development team.