The One-Week Europa Crowd Playtest

Gordon Johansen is known to many Europa devotees as a major force behind 'one-week Europa,' a 4-turns-per-month adaptation of the Europa system deve1oped in Canada. In addition to the different timeframe, it features a number of other novel game mechanics, such as reserve movement and a 2d6 CRT. This table has some interesting combat results, such as DLX (defender force exchange), which forces the defender to lose the strength of the largest unit participating in the combat and then retreat. The total rules package is far too lengthy to present here, but this account of a game of one-week Leningrad- 1941 provides an entertaining sneak preview of the variant. If enough readers express an interest, we will provide future coverage of one-week Europa.

Our group recently broke in some new players to one-week Europa using the L41 scenario from issue #30. To give them an appreciation for the one-week system we first played the scenario with "rules-as-written," and then again with one-week rules. The first playing went predictably: the Germans lost, or at least we assumed they were going to lose--all the Soviets had to do was keep throwing units in front of the Germans until they ran out of time. Nonetheless, this experience gave the new players a feel for the scope of the campaign and for the types of units they would be playing with.

Everyone then got a copy of the one-week rules on disk and was given a week to review them. Not unexpectedly, the furthest anyone got was printing out the rules; no one actually had a chance to read them. A quick basic explanation during the setup gets everyone familiar with them, however, and we are soon ready to go.

The June 4 surprise turn and regular turn go about the same as in a regular scenario. The Germans take out Riga, but don't quite get to Daugavpils due to the fact that c/m units have only half movement in the exploitation phase. (A cautious German commander, who for some reason thought that a stack could not attack two hexes, even if different units performed the attacks, did not help the situation in the south).

The rest of the Soviet frontline units are wiped out, but not without some risky die rolls against a 15-point stack of armor units. The Soviets are happy to find out that they get 40% special replacements, but this exuberance is tempered when they discover that the RPs don't arrive until one month later, and not immediately. The Soviets throw up a thin holding line around Tartu to screen Tallinn, as their units can move no further. A stronger force garrisons the river line along the Soviet/Latvian border by Pskov. No units are allowed to be placed in reserve due to Soviet unpreparedness.

July I sees the Germans kill the Tartu screen and cut off Tallinn with a couple of Motorized divisions. Parnu is taken by two 1-10 AT II's. The Pskov line is attacked blind by two stacks of armor and the bulk of the Luftwaffe. Since the Soviets send up interceptors, German air factors are not doubled. The odds are poor (only about 3:1), but some hot die rolling gets the Axis across the river. Lack of Axis reserves means that exploitation does not go far.

The Soviets leave minor forces in Pskov and Dno to further hinder the German advance in the center and strongly garrison the forest hexes in front of the Luga River. Some forces shift to cover the VaIdai Hills. Major counterattacks are mounted against the Motorized elements besieging Tallinn. With the bulk of Red Air Force (at double strength, since the Germans have no non-intrinsic AA) mounting strikes against the two 6-10 Mot XX's, a 3:1 and a 2.5:1 are achieved, but to no avail. The attackers manage to retreat successfully back towards Narva though, and so avoid a complete disaster. The 3-6* X from the Baltic islands attacks Parnu and kills the 1-10's.

July 2 has the Axis mostly sniping with his armor while the infantry is moving up. Attacks along the coast merely push the defenders into Narva proper. Soviet reserves stop German attacks cold on the road to the Luga, but at the cost of a precious Motorized division. Soviet reserves are declared and the defense falls back to the Luga.

July 3 sees Narva fall to an '11' roll on a 2.5:1 attack, but attacks on the Luga are repulsed, as more reserves are thrown in and lost. Soviet forces are getting thin, but next turn the special replacements will show up at last.

July 4 is a tight turn for the Soviets. German infantry has made it up to the line and makes its presence felt. Infiltrators sneak into the forest hex southeast of Narva and help break the first river line. For some reason the river in front of the Valdai Hills is not attacked and all the pressure is on the Luga line. (The Soviets find out later this is a diversion and the Germans plan to hit it if the Reds pull troops out). Other forces to the southeast of the Luga are hammered by infantry stacks, but again the main line barely holds, thanks to Soviet reserves moving in.

Another Motorized division is lost, leaving only two 8-4-8 Tank XX's and one cadre as effective armor on the front. A German 12-10 Panzer XX suffers a disruption result and is reduced to cadre, with the RPs coming back in one month. It will only be out of action for one turn however, as the Germans build it back up to strength right away using their accumulated replacement points.

In the Aug I turn, the fortifications they have built bring the Soviets bad luck. A low-odds attack across the Luga River into hex I B: 1002 breaches the river. The German c/m units retreat back across the river to protect their supply link, leaving only 14 factors of infantry to hold the bridgehead. Another fort in the woods beside Luga itself falls, and the Axis is also across in a minor way to the south.

The Soviet situation is getting desperate; they can no longer hold the river with 3-6 XX's in the forest hexes now that the German infantry is in position. To try to reestablish their position, the Soviets mount an attack on the bridgehead by Narva with the support of the fleet and all of their bomber force. The Tank division finally shows its worth as it nets a +5 modifier for the attack and a DE is rolled at 4:1. Unfortunately, this severely limits (one brigade) the armor the Soviets have in reserve.

By Aug 2 the Germans finally come to understand the use of reserves in the attack. Attacks are declared and when the Soviets commit their reserves, combat is delayed until the end of the exploitation phase. Exploiting Axis reserve units are then added to the attack, making this a bad turn to be a Soviet. At least 25 factors are killed and a two-hex advance is made on the road to Leningrad. The Luga River is also breached in the central forest region. The navy is pulled back for the defense of Leningrad as the Germans are now only three hexes away. All available troops are shoved into the line and several forest hexes are again held only by 3-6 Rifle XX's. Aug 3 brings defeat for the Germans, however. Four attacks are mounted with a '3' being the high number rolled (2d6). One attack succeeds at 15:1, but the others are unmitigated disasters. The bridgehead in the forest retreats back across the river. An 11-10 Panzer XX is cadred in front of Leningrad, thanks to battleship support. Two 6- 10's and an 8-6 Inf XX are cadred by Narva as an 8-4-8 Tank uses reserve movement to shore up the defense of the river line. With no armor in the attack, the AECD makes it -3 to the die at 1:1 and an AE is rolled.

A lesson is learned here: use harassment or interdiction to slow down enemy reserves and prevent them from getting into attacks 3 hexes, away.

At this point we call the game as we want to try out the rules with Fall of France to see how they work in that environment.

I have to say that this scenario is a wonderful teaching tool and I feel it works even better with one-week turns. It was tense for both sides all the way through and a few better German die rolls on the Aug 3 attacks could have made the Soviets fear for Leningrad itself.

Hopefully this wasn't too long and dull. I'll will do a report on our game of Fall of France if anybody is interested.