The recently revised Narvik is now out and among us.

Narvik has always been one of the most favored Europa games. It offers endless variations of play and has every dynamic a good operational level game of this sort should. It is also a great solitaire game and is the most finely balanced game I have ever seen produced.

Combined arms play is the heart of Narvik. In order to succeed, a player must understand this concept. Failure to do so usually leads to defeat in short order.

In this article I am going to discuss the various rules and tactics of the game and how they fit together as viewed from both Allied and German perspectives.

The Allies

The Allied player has a very diversified force: the RAF, the Royal Navy, a mixed bag of British, French, and Polish ground forces, and a fairly large Norwegian Army. His overallobjective is to harass the Hun and deny him Narvik, ports in the south, or both.

He should break down the map into three distinct sections: Narvik, the area of Narvik north to Alta; Trondheim, the port and all other ports north to Narvik; and the South, the remainder of Norway. Each section should be handled in isolation from the others; an Allied player counting on operations in one section to decisively influence actions in other sections has already over-extended himself.

The Allied ground forces, when added to the Norwegian Army, are a potent force. Combat aircraft available are almost equal in numbers to the Germans, but they are somewhat lower in effectiveness due to slightly lower counter strengths and the extreme ranges involved. The Royal Navy lends its strength in the form of carriers, cruisers, landing craft, and interdiction counters.

Turn One: The Campaign Begins: During the Allied half of turn 1, the Allied player must size up the situation. He must free any port and overrun any airfield he can, while combining his forces to disrupt the German communication lines. The RAF will be able to launch attacks from Hatson Field immediately and should do so.

Turn Two: The Allies Mobilize: The Allied player receives ground, air, and naval units on turn 2. This is the beginning of a near-continuous trickle of Allied reinforcements to Norway. They must be formed into strike groups that provide interacting support; they must not be squandered.

These forces can constantly harass the Germans. For instance, the air units from Hatson Field and Bomber Command should be used every turn to bomb the Stavanger, Kristiansand, and Bergen airfields. If enemy fighters are present, bomb at night. The Allied player will find that this will eliminate, a large number of enemy air units on the ground, render the airfields inoperable, or both.

If any of these airbases are in Allied hands, the RAF should he transferred there from Hatson Field or the carriers. This allows them to operate at normal range, effectively doubling their strength.

Further north, this tactic may be used to good effect at the Bardufoss airfield. The Allies can construct a very large strike force close to Narvik by stationing carriers off the coast, building ice airfields, and stationing RAF units at Bardufoss. (in fact, the Allied player can have nineteen air units in this area by turns 5 and 6.) This is a genuine 69 threat to the German units operating in the Narvik area and can spell disaster for the Germans early in the game.

(Remember, also, that the carriers may leave their air units behind when they withdraw, if space 0 is available at Alliedcontrolled airfields.)

To complement this air build-up, there can be sizeable Allied and Norwegian ground forces in the Narvik area. Eleven Norwegian attack factors are present on turn 1, with two more present at Alta and one more received on turn 2. With this force, the Germans should be unable to capture and hold all the ports in this area; thus, Allied ground forces may begin to land.

With the build up of Allied ground and air units, it is possible to launch a major ground offensive on turn 5, supported by the RAF and Royal Navy. This allows ten turns of offensive operations before the end of the game.

Trondheim, with its airfield and major port, is the axle around which the operations of both players revolve. Immediately on turn 1 the Norwegians have the opportunity to pin down the Germans, preventing them from moving up the coast to reinforce Narvik. Here also is a key area to land Allied units at a port south of the A weather line.

The Allied player starts with eight Norwegian attack factors, including one combat/motorized battalion, in the area. Two additional factors appear at the 14th mobilization center on turn 2. This provides a respectable strike force that can lay the groundwork for later Allied operations.

Namsos is the northernmost port that is south of the A weather line. Since it is south of the line (thus worth 100 victory points at the end of the game), has an already mobilized Norwegian force present, and is close to the Trondheim airfield, it is a good place for the Allies to land. Offensive operations against the Germans are often possible, especially if the Allies hold the Trondheim airfield and thus can have RAF units present to support operations. The Royal Navy can contribute by supplying air units from carriers and interdicting the port of Trondheim.

Mo and Bodo can serve as bases to launch operations against Trondheim, but due to the distance involved they are best used to provide back-up bases for the operations out of Namsos. The wild, roadless terrain to the north of these ports makes them virtually useless for ground operations against Narvik. Consideration of these ports may come down to the fact that they are the only ones available, keeping in mind the general rule, "Go thee where the Hun is not".

The Kristiansand to Andalsnes area is the last and least promising area for the Allies, as it will be the real power base of the German forces. It is under the Luftwaffe umbrella from Germany, Denmark, and German-held airfields in Norway. It is where the Germans make the strongest showing in the invasion and follow-up waves and is the easiest area for them to reinvade should things go afoul during the invasion turn.

Despite these facts, the Allied player can cause significant problems for the Germans. For instance, a failure at Kristiansand, Stavanger, Andalsnes, or Bergen can cost the German player a port. Once interdicted by the Royal Navy the Germans may not attempt any other landing there.

Of all these ports, Bergen is probably in the best position for the Allies to hold should they capture it. Bergen has two mobilization centers and an airfield, thus assuring a ready base for air support and allowing the possibility of Norwegian reinfocements appearing at the mobilization centers. The terrain is highly favorable, as the convoluted coastline and fjords allow the formation of defensive lines that can not be outflanked. Many a game has revolved around stiff defensive and grinding offensive operations with each turn in doubt and victory in the balance right up to the end of the game.

If the possibility of grabbing several of these ports arises, the Allied player should do so. It may cost troops, ships, and planes, but imagine the German player's situation in having to clear several ports south of the A weather line by turn 15. Having been in that position myself, I can assure you that going back to Germany (with apologies to His Majesty, the King of Norway) looks better and better with each passing turn.

The two off-shore ports, Kristiansund and Alesund, offer more opportunities for trouble. After the landing craft counter is available, raids and forays compound the problems the Germans have in the south. More traditional use of the landing craft counter has been in the Narvik area, but its use in the south can be even more important.

With the above considerations in mind, let's look in more detail at some of the specific Allied forces available:

The RAF:

Not a single turn should pass without the RAF launching bombing raids on the Germans, day and night. The targets presented offer the Allies many choices: airfields, ports, ground units, communications, and aircraft are everywhere. If the Allies control a port, such as Bergen, the RAF should spend the majority of its effort supporting the defense of the port.

The ranges from Hatson Field and Bomber Command place all of Norway from Trondheim to Oslo under the RAF umbrella. With that kind of coverage, no RAF air unit should ever be without a mission.

The Royal Navy:

Only the Allies have an operational navy, giving them a definite advantage. The naval forces consist of carriers, cruisers, destroyer interdiction counters, and landing craft.

The carriers, Ark Royal, Furious, and Glorious, are mobile airfields with a total combined capacity of twelve air units. Their potential around Narvik has already been discussed. They are also quite effective in the south. I believe that most Allied players guard them too much. While they shouldn't be parked off Kristiansand, an area where the Germans should have near-total control of the skies, they shouldn't be kept so far from the Norwegian coast that the air units can not operate effectively.

Carriers can actually mean the difference in the game. With so much at stake, I would readily trade carriers for a port south of the A weather line; I would trade all three if that would assure me the control of Narvik and a port south of the A weather line. I suppose some players might think in Europa terms; i.e., the long-range effects of losing the three carriers. When all of Europa comes together, I will too.

The contingent of cruisers can perform multiple functions. They may interdict ports, escort carriers (to provide flak cover), and provide additional flak defenses for Allied controlled ports.

While carriers are, on occasion, expendible and are tough enough to risk under enemy skies, use of the cruisers is a different matter. It is best not to keep them parked in a port for long periods of time (more than two turns). They should be rotated often, some on port duty and some with the carriers. When guarding a port, they should be massed, with an interdiction counter present for additional support.

The interdiction counters, representing destroyers and destroyer escorts, can provide flak protection or, as their name indicates, interdict ports. While the carriers and cruisers may be sunk, the interdiction counters only take hits, yielding victory points to the Germans.

The use of interdiction counters and the interdiction of ports is a major decision the Allied player must make on the initial game turn. It is a very good idea to inderdict an invaded port north of the A weather line, thus gaining five victory points. However, automatically interdicting Narvik may not be the best way to earn those points, if more than one port is available to be interdicted. This is so because the German player receives a naval infantry regiment if one of these northern ports is interdicted.

If Narvik is interdicted, the regiment appears there, thus reinforcing the port's defenders; this may prove to be a significant reinforcement for the Germans. Interdicting a different northern port that was invaded by the Germans places these troops out of reach of the crucial port of Narvik. It may also insure the demise of these stranded sailors, as the Norwegian ground forces are fairly strong in this region.

It is also true that failure to interdict Narvik permits the Germans to attempt to land reinforcements there. However, the sunk in transit table allows these reinfocements only two chances out of six of arriving safely, and reinforcements sent this far north require double naval transport points. An Allied player must consider all these factors before deciding upon the interdiction of Narvik on the first turn.

Use of interdiction counters in the south is also important, in order to prevent the Germans from making opposed landings at Allied held ports and taking vacant ports.

More Narvik: Rules and Tactics

The Allies
The Norwegian Army
The Germans