September I:

The Allies are again quiet, and the Axis players begin to sense that we have derailed their plans. There are rumors of recriminations about the loss of the LCs. The Axis again mount an attack on the 82nd Airborne, and this time it works. First, the Axis flak drives off some of the Allied DAS, including the dreaded anti-tank Hurricane. This increases the odds to 3:1, and an 'HX' results.

The 82nd has nowhere to retreat and is eliminated. (They're dead, Dave. They're all dead, Dave.) The LCs destroyed last turn could have been used to evacuate the Paras. Further south, the decision was made to abandon Sicily, so ports, airfields, and rail lines are being torn up as fast as possible.

September II:

Was it planning or was it desperation? The Allies make their boldest invasion yet, landing at four ports in southern France. About four divisions land, followed by two armored divisions. The beachhead is out of range of most of the Allied air cover, but the strategic bombers are called up to pound the rail net.

The weak Italian garrisons of those ports are overwhelmed, but one of the ports is demolished (see Rule 30M). The Axis scramble to repair the rail lines and contain the beachhead. The easternmost port is retaken and the landing force eliminated, while the mechanized reserve from northern France has moved south. The Allied armor is the target of harassment raids to prevent them moving inland. Now would be a good time for the Allies to invade Normandy.

October I:

Faced with sufficient German armor to make the fight for the beachhead doubtful, the Allies decide to cut their losses and withdraw! The Luftwaffe is on naval patrol, expecting to intercept troops coming in, and so misses the opportunity to catch the Allies going out: only two hits on the transports. Allied bombing raids disrupt the rail net, pound airfields north of Rome, and trap "Hermann" on Corsica.

October II:

The Allies return to Corsica with four fresh divisions. The attack on Ajaccio rolls an 'AS', but it is obvious that Corsica will fall next turn. Since Italian losses are rapidly approaching 75 REs, there is a good chance (5 out of 6) of the first Italian surrender roll (occurring in the Axis initial phase of Nov I) being the only roll needed. However, there is also a 2/3 chance of mud weather in zone D (Italy north of Naples, France and Germany) in Nov I, and a 1/3 chance in zone E (Sardinia, Sicily, and Italy south of Naples).

At this point, about 2:00 PM Sunday, the game was ended. Three of the players had already left for home, and one of the two remaining Axis players had a headache. Not counting the setup time, we had played for about 29 hours. Axis turns averaged about 4 man-hours each, while Allied turns (due to all of that invasion planning) took about 50% longer.

Although we had only played eight turns, the players had not really expected to get much further. Both sides had a great time discovering all of those new and interesting units, and the Axis players learned which kinds of invasions could be stopped and which could not. (Listening with one ear to the "Scorched Earth Lite" game across the room, we also learned about the new "Assigning Blame Phase," which is the opposite of an initial phase.)

Both sides had problems with the rules, the problems being that we thought we knew them. For example, although this is hard to believe, no one noticed that we had the turn order reversed! The Axis should have had the first move in each turn, just as they do in many other Europa games. I think that we were thrown off by the Allied "pre-game turn."

This rule is buried on page 65, under "initial deployment," in a short but densely worded paragraph. As with the "danger zone" rule, this section would have benefited from some clarification, and an example or two. The air rules are substantially different from previous versions. (The optional AA table, where a single die is rolled for the entire attack, is a real time-saver.) The way that the strategic bombing offensive has been abstracted and streamlined is particularly elegant.

The best part of the convention (my first) was actually getting to meet all of these people who design the Europa games. They were younger than I expected, or perhaps I'm getting older. They were also more normal than I had expected; some of the role-players at the convention, on the other hand, were pretty weird. Overall, a very enjoyable weekend. I expect to be playing SF with a group in Vancouver this Fall, and this time I'll try to get the rules straight.

Second Front: First Battlefield Report Origins/Europafest 1994

Introduction
July and August 1944
September and October 1944
A Word about Danger Zones