If all goes according to plan, this may well be the last Second Front Report.

The counters should be entering the production process by the time you read this. The charts, OBs, and rules (in that order) will follow immediately.

Below is a preview of rules under consideration and currently being playtested. Please note that many of these are experimental and subject to last-second change. However, I've tried to select those rules that have a good chance of making it into the final rules set in one form or another.

Further, this preview is by no means an exhaustive list of the changes under review for the game. And last, opinions expressed below are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect those of the rest of the GRD staff; any errors are likewise mine alone.

General - The grand campaign scenario will start with Jul I 43 and end with May I 45. Included with the 4,000 or so counters will be those needed to back the start date to Apr I 43, in anticipation of the gigantic 1943 scenario linking Scorched Earth with Second Front.

Stacking - Modified stacking limits are being looked at: 1) Regular stacking is 3 units of any size and type, plus 3 REs of non-divisional units of any type, plus 2 REs of artillery (or 1 artillery division); 2) Mountain stacking is 2 units of any size and type, plus 2 REs of non-divisionals, plus 1 RE of artillery.

Also, "overstacking" is currently an advanced rule in which the normal stacking limits may be exceeded. Overstacked hexes are subject to several restrictions and the overstacked units themselves are prohibited from all activities except tracing supply and moving.

Roads - Due to the proliferation of hard-surfaced roads in SF, moving along them costs only 1 MP per hex regardless of weather.

Supply - Truck counters have been replaced by increased (to 10 hexes) road-element supply lines for the Allies. Also, and this is a biggie, units in their first turn out of supply do not have their attack factors halved unless they are isolated as well.

Construction - Construction brigades (those with the construction symbol) with defense strengths of 2 or more may perform quick construction (QC) by themselves.

Also, another biggie, forts now require two turns to build regardless of terrain, although QC would cut this in half.

Special Units - An enormous number of special unit types permeate the game, far too many to list and describe here. Suffice it to say that the three most technologically advanced nations in the world at that time spared no expense in fielding a bewildering array of special units. I think it's one of Second Front's greatest appeals (as well as a reason why it's taken so long to get things straight and working right).

Air Rules - The air rules have been almost totally rewritten to an "on demand" system. This means that there is no longer a discrete and separate air phase. Instead, air units are basically flown whenever (within clearly defined limits) the owning player wants to fly them.

The strategic air war has been abstracted (very few of the air units associated with the strategic air war will be included in the game). Instead, Allied strategic "wing" markers are provided for operational use. Also, the effects of the strategic air war on actual SF game operations will be tracked using a special chart.

Naval Rules - The naval rules have undergone major expansion and revision. Naval units can now move in both the movement and exploitation phases. Also, naval units no longer have unlimited movement (currently they get 150 movement points per movement and exploitation phases). This was found necessary to more accurately model the complexities of major amphibious operations.

Opinion - As an aside, I believe that the enormous problems in planning and executing major combined land-sea-air operations required more elaborate air and naval systems to model them. That is, to a degree never approached by any previous Europa game, the design problem of how to present players with a reasonable simulation of the difficulties facing our historical counterparts when contemplating such operations had to be fully addressed for the first time.

Indeed, I think that's another of SF's great appeals--to successfully plan and execute (or defeat) a major land-sea-air invasion in all its intricate majesty.

Weather - There is an overall -2 modifier for all attacks made in mud weather, and an overall -1 for all attacks in winter and snow weather. I feel confident that this will become the Europa standard. More, armor effects (but not antitank effects) will be reduced in winter and snow weather.

Nations - A variety of nations are represented in the game. Indeed, units from Australia and Brazil to Yugoslavia are in play at one time or another. More, for the first time in 15 years (since Fall of France), rules handling the surrender of a major power, Italy, have been included. However, no surrender rules for Germany are being considered at this time (it is assumed that Germany will fight to the bitter end). In addition, rules to handle the liberation of occupied regions and countries are also being tested.

To reflect the nature of and differences within the Allied coalition, whenever American and British ground units (including those units affiliated with them) participate in the same attack, they suffer a -1 to the attack die roll.

OBs, Charts, and Tables - The Allied and Axis OB books are a worthy tribute to the years and countless hours spent preparing them. I estimate 50-60 pages for the Axis and 30-40 pages for the Allied OB book. I don't think any game in history comes close to those numbers, nor to their completeness and accuracy. Also, to best complement the rules and OBs, dozens of charts and tables will be included.

Two of those charts and tables are presented on the following pages: the fortifications effects chart, and the optional "minimum-dice-roll" AA fire table. Remember that they are still in playtest (albeit highly refined) form and that the final versions may well be different. In addition, the playtest rules describing their use have been included. If you would like to try them out in your own game, let us know how they worked for you.

Optional Rule 37L.

Minimum Dice Roll AA Fire Table This table is designed to reduce the number of AA rolls made during play to a minimum. In general, whenever the standard AA fire table would be used use the minimum-dice-roll AA fire table instead.

1. Resolution

Resolve AA fire before air units resolve their missions. All eligible AA strength in a hex may fire upon air units flying air transport and bombing missions in the hex. It may not fire against air units flying any other missions. For example, AA may not fire against fighters flying escort in a hex. In general, all AA strength in a hex, except that of naval units may fire upon enemy air units flying the appropriate missions in the hex.

However, naval units may fire AA (and other units may fire AA with the naval units) only as follows( Note: Cargo being transported may not fire AA):

• Against air units bombing naval units at sea: A number of naval units (owning player's choice) not greater than the number of attacking air units may fire AA. For instance, if 6 air units are attacking, then up to 6 naval units may fire AA.
• Against air units bombing naval units in port: A number of naval units (owning player's choice) not greater than the number of attacking air units, plus all non-naval-unit AA in the hex may fire AA.

When firing AA against air units flying DAS missions, total the AA strengths of the units adjacent to the target hex and divide this total by the number of hexes containing adjacent friendly units to determine the final AA strength. Note: Do not count hexes that are separated from the target hex by prohibited terrain.

Example: German air units fly DAS over a hex. The Allied player is adjacent to the hex with units in three hexes; these units have 4 AA points in one hex, 0 in the second , and 2 in the third. The Allied player's total of 6 AA points is divided by 3 (since the units occupy 3 adjacent hexes); thus, the AA strength to be fired is 2.

When firing AA against air units flying harassment missions, total the AA strengths present in the target hex and all land hexes containing AA adjacent to the target hex. Divide this total by the number of hexes involved to determine the final AA strength.

Example: An harassment mission is flown against a hex containing 4 AA points. Three adjacent land hexes also contain AA: 7, 3, and 6 points respectively. Thus, 20 total AA points is divided by 4 hexes, yielding 5 points of AA to be fired on each of the harassing air units.

2. Procedure

1) Determine the AA strength to fire.

2) Find what column most closely matches (without exceeding) the combined total AA strength.

3) Determine if any modifiers apply which would adjust the column left or right. Plus modifiers shift the column to the right and minus modifiers shift it to the left. This will be the column that the AA attack is resolved on. For instance, a purely German total AA strength of 16 in 1943 would resolve its attack on the 14 column. Note: There are columns for -1 and 0 AA strengths in each of the antiaircraft effectiveness rows. However, these are only used in cases where actual AA strengths are modified. Units possessing no AA capability may never fire AA at enemy air units.

Roll two dice and cross-index the number rolled with the appropriate AA strength column to obtain a result, which will either be a number, or a '-'.

3. AA Effectiveness by Mission

The type of mission flown affects AA effectiveness as shown on the antiaircraft results table. Example: A German force, consisting of one Ju88A (4B5) flying ground support and one He 111 H (4B4) bombing the rail line, flies against a hex occupied solely by 1 point of position AA. The only column-shift modifier used is -2 column shifts for AA fire against two air units. However, the Ju88A flying ground support also deducts 1 from its defense factor.

4. AA Result Effects

If an AA attack roll results in a number, then that is the number of modified DFs affected by the AA fire. DFs are modified by aircraft type, prefix, and code as well as the kind of mission flown. Air units from the affected mission force are selected randomly, and their DFs deducted from the remaining AA-effect factors. If the AA fire result was at least equal to the combined, modified defense factors of the mission force (not counting escorts), then each odd-numbered air unit selected (1st, 3rd, 5th, etc.) is aborted, and each even-numbered air unit selected (2nd, 4th, 6th, etc.) is returned.

If the AA fire result was less than the combined, modified defense factors of the mission force (not counting escorts), then each odd-numbered air unit selected (1st, 3rd, 5th, etc.) is returned, and each even-numbered air unit selected (2nd, 4th, 6th, etc.) is aborted.

A result of '-' means that the AA fire had no effect.

Example: During the Jun II 44 turn, four P-47D25s (8F9) are flying ground support against a German hex containing an AA strength of 11. The final column used will be the '17' column (starting with the '10' column: +1 for 1944, +1 for a German AA strength of at least 7, and +0 for 4 air units). The German player rolls an 8, for a result of 19. Since 19 is less than the combined, modified DFs of the mission force (4x6=24), the Ist and 3rd selections will be returns, and the 2nd selection will be an abort. The 1st P-47 is returned and 6 (its modified DF) is deducted from 19 leaving 13, the 2nd P-47 is aborted and 6 is deducted from 13 leaving 7, and the 3rd P-47 is returned deducting 6 from 7 leaving 1. Since 1 is less than the modified DF of the 4th P-47, it is unaffected by the AA fire and completes its mission.

(Note that if the units above had been flying dedicated missions, the 1st and 3rd P-47s would have been aborted and the 2nd P-47 would have been eliminated, but only after they had performed their missions.)

Note to readers

Although the rules for using this table have been written for SF, it should be relatively simple to use this table in your current Europa games. Only the column-shift modifiers need to be expanded to cover other periods and nationalities. Therefore, add to the column shift section:

-1 In 1939-40
-1 If Soviet or Minor Power

Notes:

1) The +1 for German or Allied applies only after Dec II 42.

2) Minor Powers are any besides France, UK, Germany, Italy, USA, or USSR.

Column Shifts (cumulative)

-3 If firing at night
+1 In 1944-45
+1* If German or Allied
-3 vs. 1 air unit
-2 vs. 2 air units
-1 vs. 3 air units
+0 vs. 4 or 5 air units
+1 vs. 6 to 9 air units
+2 vs. 10 or more air units
*Only if AA strength is 7 or more.

Explanation of AA Results

1) A numbered result is the number of enemy DFs affected by AA fire.
2) Losses are determined randomly per Rule 371-4.
3) Dedicated missions must be declared before any AA is fired.
4) Note that the '-1' and '0' columns are only used as a result of column shifts, they may never be used by forces that have no AA strength to begin with.
5) Column shifts are cumulative. However, treat shifts that would go past the leftmost column of the table as minus dice-roll modifiers on the '-1' column.

AA Effectiveness by Mission and Unit Type

-2 to the DF of type HB and SHB when flying harassment missions (both light and heavy AA may fire).
-1 to the DF of type B, SB, HT, and T when flying DAS, GS, harassment, or airdrop missions.
-1 to the DF of code T; and type B, SB, LB, HT, and T air units when bombing naval units.
+0 to the DF of type SHB when flying missions not otherwise modified (both light and heavy AA may fire).
+0 to the DF of type HB when bombing naval units (both light and heavy AA may fire).
+0 to the DF of type HB when flying missions not otherwise modified (only heavy AA may fire).
var. Fighters have their DFs modified when using this table: those with printed DFs of 1-4 remain unchanged; those with DFs of 5-6 are treated as 4s; those with DFs of 7-8 are treated as 5s; and those with DFs of 9 or more are treated as 6s.

Rule 30A4 - Fortifications

Fortifications have combat effects as listed on the fortification effects chart. The combat effects of fortifications are in addition to the terrain in the hex.

a. Forts. When an enemy unit gains ownership of a hex containing a fort, the fort is immediately destroyed and its marker removed from play.

b. Fortresses. A fortress may be in one of two conditions: improved or unimproved. The orders of battle will specify the condition of each fortress at the start of play.

Place a fort counter in a hex containing an unimproved fortress to distinguish it from an improved fortress.

When enemy units gain ownership of an improved fortress, the fortress immediately becomes unimproved (mark accordingly).

Once unimproved, an unimproved fortress does not change its condition and may not be improved in the context of the game.

An unimproved fortress does not change its condition when enemy units gain ownership of its hex. Regardless of who owns the hex, an unimproved fortress retains its combat effects.

c. Port Fortifications. A port fortification is a counter having both unit and improved-fortress attributes. It is 1 RE in size, has a movement rating of 0, and does not count against the stacking limit. It has combat and antiaircraft strengths as printed on its counter and is self-supporting. When defending, a port fortification has the same effect on combat as an improved fortress, in addition to its defense strength.

d. Fortified Hexsides. At the start of the game, all fortified hexsides are unimproved. An unimproved fortified hexside does not change its condition when enemy units gain ownership of its hex. Regardless of who owns the hex, the unimproved fortified hexside retains its combat effects. An unimproved fortified hexside may not be improved in the context of the game.

e. The Westwall. A Westwall fortification may be in one of two conditions: improved or unimproved. At the start of play, all Westwall hexes are unimproved.

Place a fort in a hex containing an unimproved Westwall hex to distinguish it from an improved Westwall hex. If, at the start of any Axis initial phase, there is an Allied ground unit in any Wehrkreis, the Benelux, or any French Military Region adjacent to Greater Germany, the Axis player may (but isn't required to) declare an emergency restoration of the Westwall.

This restoration takes two turns, regardless of weather, as follows: In the Axis initial phase when the restoration is declared and in the next Axis initial phase following the declaration, the Axis player forfeits all resource-point reinforcements and may not use civilian labor in any WK containing a Westwall fortification.

In the second Axis initial phase following the declaration, the Westwall is restored to improved condition (remove the fort markers from all hexes containing German-owned Westwall fortifications). The Axis player may declare an emergency restoration only once per game.

Alternately, it takes 4 turns (2 with quick construction) to improve an unimproved Westwall hex, at a cost of 2 resource points. The Axis player can improve Westwall hexes using this procedure at anytime in the game. If the Allied player owns a Westwall hex in the initial phase of his player turn, the Westwall fortification in that hex immediately becomes unimproved (mark appropriately).

An unimproved Westwall fortification does not change its condition when enemy units gain ownership of its hex. Regardless of who owns its hex, an unimproved Westwall fortification retains its combat effects.

f. Ouvrages. At the start of the game all ouvrages are unimproved. An unimproved ouvrage does not change its condition when enemy units gain ownership of its hex. Regardless of who owns its hex, an unimproved ouvrage retains it combat effects. An unimproved ouvrage may not be improved in the context of the game.

Note to Readers: This rule should be usable as is for any of your Europa games. Along with the minimum-dice-roll AA table, write in and let us know what you think.

Europa Draft Fortifications Effects Chart

Fortifications Combat Effects
Fort (counter) -1; No AEC
Fortified Area (counter) -1; No AEC
Port Fortification (counter) -1; No AEC; Attacker (except eng, art) halved;
Ground-Support bombing halved
Unimproved Fortified hexside No AEC
Improved Fortified hexside No AEC; Attacker (except eng, art) halved
Unimproved Fortress -1; No AEC
Improved Fortress -1; No AEC; Attacker (except eng, art) halved; Ground-Support bombing halved
Unimproved Westwall -1; No AEC
Westwall [11 -1; No AEC; Defender ignores retreat
Westwall [21 -2; No AEC; Defender ignores retreat
Westwall [31 -3; No AEC; Defender ignores retreat
Ouvrage -1; No AEC; Attacker halved; Ground-Support bombing halved; Defender ignores retreat
Ouvrage (destroyed) -1; No AEC

NOTE: An attack through a fortified hexside into another fortification type is affected by the combined effects of both fortification types.