First to Fight

Counters

The two Soviet SB-2bis air units were printed incorrectly. Their tactical bombing strength of 1 appears at the end of the line containing the unit ID, rather than at the beginning of the bottom line of data. A little liquid paper, a black pen, and some patience can fix things up.

Most of the Slovakian counters were printed using the wrong color scheme (i.e., Luftwaffe light blue). This does not affect play of the game. The entire Slovakian OB will be reprinted in the future with an entirely different color scheme-one that may actually allow you to read the numbers!

Maps:

Map 37: Hex 0801 (Kalmar) is missing its minor port symbol. (The corresponding hex on map 13A is okay.)

Map 13A: Hex 2106 (Stolpmunde) should be a wooded swamp, vice clear terrain hex. (The corresponding hex on map 37 is okay.)

Orders of Battle

Correction: On page 16, the unit ID of the 1-8 mot hv AA II of the Polish High Command Reserves should be the 11th, vice the 1st.

Ouestions and Answers:

(Rule 27A5) Do Soviet units have to garrison the Polish cities that they capture? If they fail to do so, does the German player lose victory points?

Polish cities that are captured by Soviet units must indeed be garrisoned per the guidelines laid down in Rule 27A5, except that the garrisoning units would be Soviet, and not German. Failure to adequately garrison such cities with Soviet units results in the VP penalties for the German player stated in the rule.

Also note that capture of Polish cities and fortresses by Soviet units counts towards several of the German player's victory point conditions.

(Rule 27A5) May Soviet units assume the garrison duties of German units, and thus release them for other assignments?

Yes, the way to look at this is that the German player must garrison captured Polish cities with units that he controls; thus, the garrisons may consist of either German or Soviet units (except position AA units).

(Rule 27B2) When Polish air units evacuate by flying to any airbase in a neutral nation, what type of mission is this? May the evacuating Polish air units be patrol attacked? May they be intercepted?

Polish air units evacuate by flying the transfer mission to any airbase in a neutral country.

German fighters may patrol attack evacuating Polish air units only in non-neutral hexes. Note that if returned due to patrol attack, the Polish air units must return to a friendly (not a neutral) airbase in the air return step.

Interception is not possible in this case, as it would require the German fighters to fly over one or more hexes of the neutral nation to reach the target hex, which they are not allowed to do.

(Rule 28D) When the Polish order of battle calls for a unit to be mobilized, does the unit on the board which is mobilized have to be the exact unit listed in the Polish reinforcement schedule? Specifically, on turn 2 the Polish player is allowed to mobilize the 24th Infantry Division from its 2-6 cadre strength to its full 5-6-6 divisional strength. Suppose for purposes of this question that the 6th Infantry Division was reduced to cadre and the 24th Infantry cadre was eliminated in the German player turn of game turn 2. May the Polish player . mobilize" the 6th Infantry Division in place of the 24th? Or is this mobilization lost?

There are two important general points to be made here. First, you may ignore unit designations when playing the game, as they are for historical interest only. If you have done this during set up, then it is likely that the 24th Infantry Division is already somewhere on the board at its full 5-6-6 strength. If you are ignoring unit designations, then it would follow that you could mobilize any unit that has a 2-6 cadre and 5-6-6 full-strength side to its divisional strength.

Secondly, one should visualize the concept of mobilization in First to Fight as follows: a group of hastily assembled reservists rush to the front to be attached to a unit in dire need of warm bodies. Normally, this would be the understrength unit listed in the order of battle. However, if the unit is unavailable, or if there are pressing needs elsewhere, it is logical to assume that these reservists would be assigned to some other needy unit.

In answer to your specific question, it is okay to mobilize any Polish 2-6 cadre with a 5-6-6 fullstrength side to its divisional strength rather than just the 24th Division. For example, it would be okay to flip over the 6th Infantry Division.

(Rule 28D) Rule 28A states that reinforcements unable to enter play as specified are eliminated instead. Rule 28C states a conversion may be made in any friendly initial phase on or after the turn the conversion is specified in the order of battle. But rule 28D does not state what happens if mobilization must be delayed.

For example, in the Polish order of battle four infantry divisions are slated to be mobilized from their 1-6 cadre strength to full 4-5-6 divisional strength on game turn 3. Suppose that there are only three 1-6 infantry cadres on the board. Is the fourth mobilization lost, or may it be accumulated until one of the three remaining divisions is again reduced to cadre, and then used to build that division back up to its 4-5-6 strength?

As explained above, the men are available and waiting for an opportunity to be used. So it is okay to accumulate the unused mobilization until there is again a 1-6 cadre on the board during a subsequent Polish initial phase.

As an optional rule to simplify this process (and add variety), try the following: Each mobilization listed in the order of battle may be used to flip one Polish cadre (regardless of strength) to its fullstrength side. A mobilization may be used in any Polish initial phase on or after the turn that it is specified in the order of battle. Note that this treatment of the rule benefits the Polish player.

(Polish Order of Battle, Turn 2 Reinforcements) Why is it the mobilization of the 24th Infantry Division is listed apart from the other three mobilizations, when all the units in question have the same strengths?

Well... you see, it wasn't always so. At one point the 24th Division was rated at 6-6 when at full strength. When the 24th's rating was later revised to 5-6-6, the fact that its conversion was now the same as the three units listed below it was not noticed.

Leningrad 1941

(Rule 7A4) May either side increase its rail capacity by expending resource points, and if so, by how much and at what cost in RPs? Each side may increase its rail capacity by up to 10 REs per turn. To achieve this increase a player must spend one resource point. (if you feel this shortchanges the Soviets, remember that they have a number of units which enter play using "free" rail, and this is taken into consideration.)

General

I am a relative novice to Europa. As such, I am having difficulty finding an answer to what is probably a simple question. I've recently purchased WD, FitE, Torch, and SE. In each of these games there are units in the orders of battle with asterisks next to them. Please tell me what these asterisks mean. I have searched through the rules but I just can't seem to find this situation mentioned. Thank you for your help. (P.S. Sorry. I couldn't figure out how to phrase this in a yes/no format.)

An asterisk following the movement rating of a unit on the OB indicates the unit is supported. (P.S. It's fine as long as you don't write an essay question and then expect a dissertation in return.)

Night Trick

The trick of forcing a fighter on the ground into a dogfight with superior friendly fighters or else be bombed into extinction can be performed in the desert as well as in Russia as demonstrated by this twisted trick from desert dervish, Don McCue.

Setting the scene: There is a British P-40B in Matruh within range of two Axis Me109 units. The Messerschmitts would dearly love to get hold of the Warhawks, but suspect that the Allied pilots will opt to scramble to Alexandria if confronted. The airbase there is well defended and out of Axis escort range. Any attempt by unescorted Axis bombers to bomb it (and thus prevent the scramble) would be suicide, right?

Wrong! An Italian SM.79 air unit from a galaxy far, far away flies an extended-range strategic port bombing mission against Alexandria-at night. The Allied fighters in Egypt can not patrol or intercept the SM.79 and even though its bombing strength is reduced to 1/3 point (its strategic strength of 2 is halved for flying at night and thirded for using extended range) this still qualifies to prevent the P-40B from scrambling to Alexandria. The SM.79 may crash-land when returning, but Rommel doesn't care if his goal of dealing with the pesky Brit P-40B is achieved.