At our fall retreat we began the third full playtest of Guderian's Blitzkrieg (GB.) While play began with four players (three of which were shown on the cover last time,) Owen Fuller and I finished it. The game confirmed our "average play time" estimate of40 to 50 hours (it took 43.) Which is about as long as a game of Thunder at the Crossroads.

I played the Germans (again) and initially only commanded those on Map A (4th Army and 4th Panzer Group.) Ric Walters took charge of the southern Germans as I wanted to see what another player could do with them. Dave Benjamin and Owen split the Soviets between them. The only hints I gave Ric at the start of the game were to be as aggressive as he could. I didn't want to make him suffer under my preconceived notions of how play should proceed in that area. I, for the first third of the game, concentrated almost exclusively on my area of operations. Where, I might add, I lost the war for Adolf and my fellow Germans. But, that's another issue.

After Owen had set up his Soviets, I set about placing the Nazi menace under my control. Immediately, I decided on an axis of advance for the 4th Panzer Group. Astride the road to Spas Demansk lay one Militia Division. After destroying it, I could exploit as far as my little heart desired. Being blood-thirsty, I set up the Parizer Group in such a way as to exploit with the bulk of my force the gap generated by a fraction of it. I planned these initial moves with great care. While ignoring Owen's pleas to rearrange his set up (my plan was as obvious to him as it was to me,) I proceeded to generate the "war-losing" mistake of the German army. In my glee to establish my breach and to pour through it, I didn't have a clear picture of what to do afterward. Big mistake.

Turn one proceeded according to plan. I punched my hole with ease and poured through it. The blood drained from Owen's face. It was dramatic. It was fun.

It also didn't accomplish anything. Since I hadn't given much thought to what to do after making the breach (I concentrated too hard on making it in the first place) I had to come up with an objective for the breaching operation while it was in progress. Without a cornerstone on which to base this huge and complex operation, effectively no objective worthy of the effort was chosen. The panzer divisions floundered about after pouring through the gap in the Russian front line. I know now what they should have done, but I will not outline that here--you'll want to make your own decisions about it.

Ric's play proceeded as in earlier games. He pounced on Orel with ease, destroyed the 40th Army, and even took Tula. The cost of this operation was high-heavy losses among panzer units-and the amount of force used was exorbitant. I shuttled most of my idle panzcr divisions to support his attack (since I didn't have any good use for them.)

After the retreat, when Owen and I picked up play again, my reaction to the German situation was "OH-MY-GOD." The spearhead at Tula was dangerously exposed and at the end of an impossible supply line. I ditched Tula and its victory points (which were earned at great cost) and pulled back toward Orel with everyone.

My mistakes in the north precluded any hope of ever taking Vyazma. Luckily, we had pocketed Bryansk. That pocket eventually fell, although some diehards were still there at the end of the game. I had to come up with a good plan to use after the mud season ended, or nothing could be salvaged from our efforts.

Luckily, my thought patterns were clearer this time. I decided that a degree of "bluff and side-show" would do the job ofilistracting Owen's precious few turns of offensive action. By forcing him to expend effort away from Orel, I felt I could hold onto it and get some value for our efforts.

Parts

The plan contained a number of parts. A force of full strength panzer divisions would be put at full supply near Orel to disrupt his preparations by making spoiling attacks. A force of infantry and tanks would be tasked to threaten Kursk (take it, if possible) and make as big a show in that area as they could. Finally, a weakened panzer division and an infantry division would move north threatening to cut off Vyazma. Of these, the first effort generally smashed things up and crippled a couple of good Soviet divisions. The last managed to pull a bunch of Soviet reinforcements off to guard Vyazma and to keep Owen off balance using smoke and mirrors. It was the Kursk attack that provided the best effects.

Much to my surprise, the Kursk operation actually took the place. Encouraged by this success, I decided to try to hang onto the city (since it's worth victory points) and sent even more units in that direction. Owen, filling his part of my plan, dispatched large groups of troops to the area and began preparing a giant assault to retake the place. This offensive proceeded at glacial speed toward Kursk but had great power behind it. I decided that Kursk wasn't going to be worth the cost of holding it, and actually began to process of abandoning the town. Then Owen's force showed its true colors.

Having successfully pounded a German infantry division and being awarded an exploitation, the Soviets attempted to follow up this success by finishing off that division. Unfortunately for Owen, the retreating division had chosen to stack with a full strength panzer division. The Soviet follow-up had managed to poke a bear with a short stick, and paid for it in a bitter failure. Rebuffed by this catastrophe, Owen pulled back to regroup. I was encouraged enough to give up my "ditch Kursk" plan and reoccupied it in force. At the end of the game, I was still there.

Throughout the latter part of the game, I was constantly on the lookout for some unknown disaster to unfold. Owen is a crafty and agile player. The smallest mistake on my part would not go unnoticed. I expected to see a rabbit pulled from his hat at any moment. To my surprise, no rabbit appeared. I was convinced he had some scheme for retaking Orel. Perhaps may extremely aggressive use of panzer divisions around Orel made him gun shy, maybe not. He's not telling and I'll have to wait for the next game to see what else he has up his sleeve.

We both enjoyed and were highly engaged in this game. I learned from my mistakes and vowed not to repeat them in game #4. A number of rules changes and clarifications were made, making 3 a good playtest of both the game and the series. We definitely put the game through the ringer.

In terms of victory, we determined it to be a Soviet minor victory. German ground gains were limited, losses sustained were heavy. Had the Germans done better on the ground (or loss less) a German victory would have been fairly easy to obtain, A more aggressive Soviet player may have easily pushed it into a major victory (it rested right on the border as it was.) The game has a nice balanced feel with respect to victory.

Plans for Game 4

Determined not to repeat my errors from game 3, I sat down to rethink German strategy for game 4 in light of the lessons learned.

Both of us have under-used our air arms. This time the "fat boy's" air force will not be getting such a free ride. The Luftwaffe has been used almost exclusively in the close support role in the earlier games. Game 4 will be different. I'm giving the Reich Marshal three missions in the following order of priority: Destroy the Soviet Air Force, Severely inhibit Soviet Rail communications, and Support ground operations. The first mission will be aggressively pursued by the fighter force. The second will be the domain of the He 111's. The last will be a mix of a few fighters and Stukas.

Careful use of the Heinkels (and a little luck) should allow me to effectively cut all rail use from Moscow and Voronezh to the front in the first couple of turns. Since Soviet transportation is critically tied to railroads, I should be able to throw Owen's whole force into a panic.

I'm not sure how the air supremacy battle will go as it's the first time I've tried it. Hopefully I'll be able to humble his air force enough to protect my panzers from his ground support aircraft. Maybe I'll take it out of the war. Then again, with my luck, I'll bloody some of my best fighters for no good result. We shall see.

For his part, Owen is also rethinking air operations. I hope to damag ehis air force such that any great ideas for their use he may have had will be voided before he can implement them.

Ground support will be the domain of my Stukas and some lesser fighter types. If the air supremacy battle goes awry, I'll have to allocate the Bf 109's to force protection. Hopefully I'll do better than that. In the few, yet critical, ground attacks I'm planning for the first couple of turns, the Stukas will soften the defenders in barrage attacks. If these are successful, the defenders will become disorganized and defend at 1/2 strength. And that's before my panzers make mincemeat out of them.

Compared to the ground war, strategic goals for the air offensive were easy. The tough decisions on the ground involve "what" and "where." Taking Moscow against a capable player like Owen is a pipe-dream. More limited objectives with fairly light German losses will give me the victory I want.

The plan I'm looking at must be different from earlier attempts (so as to catch Owen off-guard), yet must have elements of earlier operations prominently displayed so that Owen will be lulled into using "the same old plan, to defeat me in the same old way..." His basic operational concept will be to run away as fast as he can (to avoid being pocketed) and to push vast amounts of supply forward (in case he does.) The strategic rail interdiction campaign will help eliminate his second tenant. For the first, I must strike rapidly and deeply so as to cut off those Soviet units trying to slog their way east. And, all must hinge on something Owen will expect so he'll stick to his plan.

To do this, I'll allow the 4th Army and the initial elements of 4th Panzer Group to sit on their hands on turn onewhile I subtly drop hints about the reinforcements scheduled for turn 2. This will be in an effort to make him think that the usual penetration operation will be conducted on map A.

2nd Panzer Group will open a breach on turn one and pour toward Orel with great pomp and circumstance. This will give the impression of the usual "drive on Tula" threat. That will hopefully drag some reinforcements to bolster Tula. At least a motorized Division will turn to the south after the breach to pounce on Kursk. If Kursk is taken, his 40th Army will be cut off and he'll have to decide what to do. His plan for these hapless souls is to force march them to Kursk and blow their original dumps in place. If he doesn't change his plan before he blows those dumps, he'll only play into my hands faster. If I see a way after he sets up, I might detach a recon battalion to go nuke his dump for him, eliminating the guess work on my part. These actions will effectively take the 40th Army out of the war.

Learning

Learning from past bloodbaths, the way to take out Russians in this game is to pocket them and let them die off in groups. Beating them to death is possible but costs the German player heavily in irreplaceable panzer losses.

Now welcome to the "man behind the screen" part of the German plan. I should have Orel by the end of turn one. Regrouping there will be the bulk of 2nd Panzer Group and all the 4th Panzer Group reinforcements. I'll be building up a giant dump at Orel and edging my way closer to Tula. Owen, for his part, is expected to heavily reinforce Tula. Since his rail lines will be cut in many places, I'm hoping he'll strip other portions of his line to do so-- specifically Kaluga. I will also be making a smoke screen preparation of launching an offensive toward Voronezh. The unexpected reinforcements in the south and by playing on his fears about Voronezh, I hope to lure his attentions in that direction. He will then help me establish "the mother of all pockets."

Forces in Orel will be arrayed in such a way so that any of four operations may be conducted: the expected attack toward Tula (not likely), the expected attack toward Voronezh (not likely if he plays smart, he will), a jab back to take Bryansk (probable), and the big one: an all out drive to the north map edge via Kaluga. The last is the actual objective of a] I these operations but will depend on the events of the first turn or so. If he doesn't strip Kaluga (worse, manages to reinforce it), the plan will probably have to be dropped.

If it works, the Soviet armies from just south of Bryansk all the way north to just past the SmolenskMoscow highway will be formed into a gigantic cauldron which will be awaiting surrender in a couple of turns. Owen hasn't shown much aggression in breaking out of pockets, and his air force will (hopefully) be unable to supply these hordes by air. If I can do it, the game's in the bag.

OK, So What Happened?

There are many good ideas in the above German plan. However, against a Soviet player with the skill, resourcefulness, and tenacity of Owen Fuller--I wouldn't bother trying it. Game 4 was a brief exercise in the futility of the above. We called the game after about 1/4 of the total number of turns because of a number of needed system changes. While that was true, both of us were getting a little frayed around the edges--I was because I could see my plan wasn't going to work properly, and Owen because I was working him to death in keeping up with my unusual operations and style. What follows is a very brief summery of how it went.

In general German operations proceeded along the lines drawn above. I was in Orel and Kursk during turn 1. (But was promptly evicted from both places by Soviet forces which couldn't take a joke.) I retook Orel on turn 2, and started preparing for the Kaluga option. Meanwhile, the 2nd SS stormed and held Yelets as part of the "convince Owen I'm going to Voronezh" strategy.

While he seemed to believe that was what I was doing, he did nothing out of the ordinary to react to it. Kaluga was just as garrisoned as ever. The only reason the German plan continued to unfold was because Owen made the mistake of leaving one road entry into the defense zone at Kaluga unmanned. Why? Well, you see, Owen is required to make at least two mistakes per game for me so I can have a chance of beating him. Just kidding.

At any rate, I poured through the outer defense line at Kaluga and pursued my plan of cutting off the Soviet front line armies. This immediately exposed the flaws in the original plan. The pocketwas too big. I was operating at the end of an enormous line of communications which stretched (almost literally) from one map comer to the other along the diagonal of the two maps. I was now in "tanks not allowed" country, where my Panzers showed an amazing tissue- paper quality.

Suffice it to say, there was no way on earth I was going to keep this pocket sealed. In the time it took me to close the thing, Owen had stockpiled enough supply to get him through a bunch of turns. He claims he was hanging on a thread, I don't think so. Until I would get him to run out of supply, he would never mass surrender forces in the pocket (they must be cut off and out of supply to have that rule inflicted on them.)

The more I play this game the more I am awed by the consummate skill and wisdom of the German commanders in the opening phases of the campaign. The opening moves of the actual campaign were brilliant. They managed to cut off almost the entire Soviet frontline force in the space of a couple of turn's game time. They did so without major loss, over extension, or time wastage. Against a "normal" Soviet player's set up (not the "outstanding" variety I've been having to deal with), the player who is able to duplicate the historical campaign in those early weeks has earned a pat on the back. It is perfectly possible to do, but it takes nerves of steel and the ability to extract every ounce of use out of the German army. Doing this while using the historical loss variant or against a player with Owen's set up skills is worthy of retirement to some sort of gaming hall of fame.

Owen's extensive article on how to use the Soviets in GB will appear next time.