All the dust has settled from the first round of playtesting. To give you an idea of the scope of this endeavor, what follows is a comprehensive list of those who participated in testing the 1944 scenario, according to documentation passed along to me by John Astell. Now, all these groups did not contribute enough to receive a game, but each sent in at least one letter or report, or were part of a test team. As such they all deserve mention for their interest, efforts and contributions. Team Captains are listed first in each grouping.

Geir Aaslid (Oslo, Norway)
Matt Arens, Jon Miller, (Barksdale AFB, LA)
Bill Barber, Alex Tihanyi (Oshawa, Ontario)
Jim Boston, John Gordon, Andy Mellits, Kevin Pitton, Jeff Thompson (Norfolk, VA)
Jeff Brown, George Mitchell (Dover, DE)
Bobby Bryant (Lake Jackson, TX)
David and Alan Chandler (Havertown, PA)
Claggett Creek Light Brigade: Steve Winslett, Dane Gundarson, Phil McQueen, Jeff Mickelson (Salem OR)
James Clark, Tom Kaufman, Chuck Meyer, Rob Newshutz, Duane Romfoe, Eric Satterdahl (Rochester, MN)
Terry Dotson (Peoria, AZ)
Chuck Doty, Don Deacon (Las Vegas, NV) Dennis Dubberley (Burke, VA)
Paul Dunigan, Gordon Foltz, Doug Langsather, Cliff Stephan (Richland, WA)
Jim Evans, Brian Evans, John Kuhn, Mike Sloan (Winchester, VA)
Michael Faletti, Joe Giese, Luther Harris Jr., Terrence Hatcher, Bruce Wright (Kent, WA)
Damien Fox, Brad Houston, Dave Pettit, Dave Reese (Mesa, AZ)
James M. Francis III (Pottsville, PA)
Edward Gainsborg, Laura Gainsborg, Richard Gainsborg, Paul Disbrow, Tim Ruffner, Guy Wilde (Trenton, NJ)
A.E. Goodwin, Mark Jemson, Lucas Medoza, Jim Prela, Steve Prela (Oroville, CA)
Steve Graham, Reid Hay, Bruce Roberson, Cory Rueb (Seattle, WA)
Larry Guza (Everett, WA)
Val John Halford (West Valley City, Utah)
Victor Hauser, Greg Bartels, Jan Musil, Henry Olson, Dan Reynolds (Austin, TX)
Charles Hill and the D5 Playtest Group (Vancouver, British Columbia)
David Hughes, Derek Nelson, Trefer Thomas, Len-Turkevics (Toronto, Ontario)
Charles Kadlec (White City, OR)
Olof Karnekull, Lars von Ehrenheirn (German),
Patrick Hyverianen (Finnish),
Leif-Johan Ljungkvist (Stockholm, Sweden)
Beric Kimball, David Cheeney, Mark Reed (San Antonio, TX)
Ben Knight (Brewster, KS)
Brian Knipple, Jon Brage, Steve Bullock, John Morris, Charlie Riegle (Virginia Beach, VA)
Ivan Kolesik Jr., Chuck Duncan, Robert Martin, Lorraine Kolesik, Matt Martin (Tucson, AZ)
Tom Johnson and the members of Task Force Johnson (Eau Claire, WI)
Stuart Lee and the PEP (Camberwell, Australia)
Dan Lewis, Jim Robertson (Pittsburgh, PA)
Art Lupinacci, Alex Tihanyi (Yes, Alex was on two different test teams!) (Toronto, Ontario)
Randy Moffat, Robin Fetting, Ronald Livingston, David Meeks, John Taylor (Indian Springs, NV)
Jason Long (Chicago, IL)
Garrett Olinde, Mike Grenfell, Gene Murrell, Hab Setze (Baton Rouge, LA)
Jim Parker, John Pastor (Whitby, Ontario)
Steven Phillips (Portland, OR)
Paul Pigulski, John Hendricksen, Jeff Hutton, Bill Wilson (Springfield, IL)
Mark Pitcavage (Columbus, OH)
Duane Romfoe (Ft. Knox, KY)
Rolf Running, Bill Duncan, Joe Falkowski, James Fitzgerald, B.J. Kersteter, Dave Lenz, Tom Miller, Dave Wheeler (Edina, MN)
Robert Scogin (San Clemente, CA)
Shelby Stanton (Bethesda, MD)
Bill Stone, Jim Arnold (Santa Rosa, CA)
S. Strevens (Southsea, United Kingdom)
Mark Swenholt, Randy Flowers, Jeff Long, Ed Reese (Plano, TX)
Brent Titus (Arcola, IL)
Doug Todd (Calgary, Alberta)
Deen Wood (Spring, TX)

Of course, the preceding list does not include all those stalwarts on the GEnie network who have devoted quite a bit of discussion to the topic of Second Front. We haven't forgotten you guys!

Experimental Rules

The rules for Second Front will comprise the new core rules for the Europa system, and as was the case with Scorched Earth and Balkan Front, there will be some new developments here which may potentially affect previously published game's when taken in a Grand Europa context. It follows then that we need to know how these rules play in the existing Europa games as well as getting feedback on their use in SF. You, the reader, can help us in this regard. Here is Jason Long to tell you how.

Hi, Jason here. We at GR/D are considering some interesting changes to the standard Europa rules. These changes possibly can improve the play of the games; however, they could also have a strong and potentially upsetting effect on play, and it's very difficult to assess their impact without having lots of people test them. Try these out and send us the feedback. Many of these rules may appear in Second Front. In addition, because of the comprehensive nature of some of these new rules, we are very interested in people using them in existing games to see how they will affect play. Comments received from people who actually use these new rules (in playing SE, BF, or some other game) will naturally receive more weight than those made by people who do not use them in actual play.

You probably shouldn't use all these rules at once. They might all work, but if problems do occur, it becomes very hard to tell which rule is at fault. Instead, only use one or two at a time. Also, keep a simple log as you play. This is helpful in assessing the impact of the rules: When a rule causes a result that would not occur with the standard rules, simply note what happened and what would have happened instead with the standard rules. Go to it!

John Astell and I have drawn up these rules. My job is to condense your comments and pass them on to John Astell every so often, so that he won't be distracted from working on SF.

-2 Row on CRT Added

Due to the many negative modifiers affecting combat, it may be useful to have a -2 row on the CRT. This row would be: AE from 1:4 to 2: 1; AH for 3:1; AR for 4:1 and 5:1; AS for 6:1 and 7:1; HX for 8: 1; DR for 9: 1. Also, change the 6: 1 -1 result from AS to EX.

Games to check this on: All games, particularly those where the defender can rack up big negative combat modifiers (Fire in the East/Scorched Earth).

Armor in Mountains

Any unit with the armored unit symbol (alone or in combination with another unit symbol) that attacks into a mountain hex is quartered. For example, this would include Flammpanzer, Engineer Tank, Recon, and other such units in addition to pure armored units. Note: We may exclude some infantry-heavy units such as the New Zealand mechanized division and German panzergrenadier units from this rule, but for now include them as well.

Air Support

We are examining the possibility of limiting the ability of aircraft to support ground units. One suggestion is to limit air (and, separately, sea) power to the modified values of the units in a combat rather than their face values as is the current practice. For example, if three 8-6 Inf XX attack across a river, currently 24 points of ground support can be used, even though the attacker's strength is halved to 12. In the variant rule, only 12 points of ground support could be added.

Games to check this on: All games, particularly FITE/SE and Fall of France (in which the historical German crossing of the Meuse may not work right).

Retreat Through ZOCs

We are considering allowing, most armies to retreat onto their own units through enemy ZOCs, as only German c/m units are currently allowed to do (per SE Rule 9F1 or BF 32A2). This would not be applied to all armies and all unit types equally. It seems fairly obvious that this rule would give the Soviets far too much resiliency in the early war period, so we feel that it is a safe bet that this would not apply to them for most of the war, though Soviet Guards units could get it at some point.

Here is a tentative list of forces possessing this retreat through ZOC ability:

At all times: All German c/m units, all British Empire units, all Finnish units, al

After the first two turns of "active operations" (historical date in parentheses): All other German forces (Oct I 39), all French forces (Jun I 40), all Italian c/m and artillery units (Jul I 40), all American forces (Dec I 42), all Polish units (Oct I 39).

From Apr I 43: All Soviet Guards, all Hungarian units, all "western" Allied forces (that is, all Allied forces except for Soviet and Soviet-allied forces).

Note: Forces of countries that join the western Allies on/after Apr 143 will get this ability only after being linked up with (and presumably getting some training and advice from) the Allies. How this works is not yet determined, but probably will involve something like tracing a supply line from the country's capital to a western Allied general supply source for 6 turns or so.

Comment: There is some debate as to when (or how) the British Empire forces get the retreat ability. Their conduct in France in 1940 indicates they probably should have it, but their performance in the desert casts some doubts on this score. If War in the Desert plays fine with the Brits having the ability, then we don't have to worry. Otherwise, we may have to do something like restrict it to 8- 8 Inf XX until sometime in later '42 or early '43.

Games to check this on: All games. Okay, back to Rick again. Thanks! -Jason

Here's an important topic, particularly when designing the 1943 scenario for Second Front, the historical version of which will start with the invasion of Sicily. David Hughes' Toronto playtest group has come up with a scheme for determining Italian surrender that seems imminently reasonable to me, and I submit it to you here for your consideration:

Surrender of Italy

The surrender of Italy is rolled for at the start of each Allied player turn when all of the following conditions are met:

(a) Italy has not yet surrendered.
(b) The Allied player owns at least one of the following: Sicily, Sardinia, or Rome.
(c) The Allied player owns at least one standard, major, or great port in Mainland Italy.

If all conditions are met, the Allied player rolls one die in his initial phase. On a roll of 5 or 6, Italy surrenders. The die roll is modified by +1 for each standard and +2 for each major or great port in Mainland Italy owned by the Allied player when the roll is made. However, Italy does not surrender if the unmodified die roll result is "l". Example: At the start of an Allied player turn, the Allied player owns Sicily and Reggio. On a roll of 4, 5, or 6 (since Reggio is a standard port), Italy would surrender.

Comment: This rule is intended to allow for flexibility, since in many scenarios the Allies might attack Sardinia rather than Sicily, or indeed attack directly towards Rome. Since no player should ever be certain of a result, there is always one chance in six that Italy will not surrender, regardless of the situation. As an example, even when holding Sicily, Reggio, Salerno, and Naples, there is that chance that Italy will keep fighting.

Some Colorful Quotes

The Second Front playtest reports contained many nuggets of Europa wisdom I found interesting or amusing. I will pass some of them along to you from time to time. Here is a sampling:

"Second Front is coming-bring your calculators."

"With the Allies about to stomp his strongest panzer corps the Axis West player was heard to scream, "I've got 60+ points pure armor and I'm going to die!"

"I've always wanted to invade Sicily."

"We found the experience to be just good plain fun; after all, there's nothing like piling eighty Allied bombers on one Westwall hex."

"Where is the "Atlantic Wall'?"

"We're playtesting Second Front but haven't any maps save for the ones of Italy."

"With the correct defensive priorities and proper play by the Germans, we don't see how the Allies can do better than a draw."

"Playing the Germans in Second Front is a lot like playing the Poles in Case White."

The latter two quotes serve to demonstrate the difficulties inherent in interpreting playtest results.

Second Front Play Aid

On the following page is a play aid chart for use with playtesting Second Front, or for your general interest or possible future use if you are not a playtester. Its purpose should be self-explanatory.

Coming Up Next Time

By the next report we will have the second round test groups busy at work, and should have many new tidbits of information to pass along. The maps are also coming to a boil. Maybe, just maybe, we will have some concrete availability information for you on this score then.

Again, thanks to all the hard-working playtesters of the first round. Rest assured that your efforts will be properly rewarded at the appropriate time.

Second Front Play Aid: Replacement Record Chart (slow: 139K)