Remember the old cartoon scene where the character lays his head on the tracks near the tunnel through the mountain to see if a train is coming and then looks up just in time to see the on-coming train run him over? That's how designing GBII felt.

GBII came about in two ways. First, there are those who from the moment the first edition was released wanted to see the northern wing of the German advance on Moscow. Second, GBII was deliberately designed as part of a linkage between both the three projected Army Group games (designed to cover the first months of the Russian Campaign) and the Swing Period games (those covering the period from Oct 41 through the late Spring of 1943). Of these, the second bunch is closer to fruition as EatG already exists (though it will be heavily madeover as part of this project) and the projected release of Case Blue in 2003. Also, I feel that this middle section of the campaign gives both players more to do and is the closest period of the War in the East to something that might be called "balance" (though this abstract concept is shifting throughout the time frame), while the three Army Group games suggest a certain lopsidedness.

The decision to create a game that laid the groundwork for the eventual linkage caused the scope of GBII to grow. When all is said and done and you have GB11, the EatG Mapset, and Case Blue you'll be able to fight it out along 2/3rds of the Eastern Front through arguably the most interesting period of the campaign.

GBII allowed me the chance to put in the cornerstone of the Swing Period linkage. Here, I give the central portion of the front from Oct 41 through May 43. That includes Operation Typhoon, the Russian Winter 41 Counteroffensive, the historical 1942 mop-up operations, and Operation Mars/Jupiter that winter. Also, I could allow the player the chance to make the strategic decision as to what to do in 1942 (go to Moscow or drive toward the southern Oil Fields). That decision will dramatically change the forces available to each side during the second half of the game and isn't nearly as cut-n-dried as you might think (sending all those Germans south also takes quite a few Russian units out of the game as well). Naturally, some will opt for the full-bore Moscow treatment anyway so they can see the "main event" match of the Eastern Campaign as it might have been. Players can either get to that point via playing the entire campaign, or jump-start right as the Summer campaign begins using one of three scenarios provided for the purpose (historical, full-bore Moscow attempt, and Operation Kremlin). While reports from the testers suggest that the FullBore scenario is a very hot item, on the face of it, I'd say Operation Kremlin is the best of the three. Operation Kremlin was the German deception plan designed to suggest to the Russians the forces that were going to be used for an advance against Moscow in 1942, but was never intended to actually be implemented. I devised the scenario from the point of view of "what if this was the real plan?" from the actual German plan (kindly provided by Thomas Burke).

As such, it is something between the historical (no Moscow offensive) and full-bore (total Moscow offensive) and I think this makes for a very interesting match up. If these three don't get your fighting blood up, perhaps the many other scenarios will give something for everyone. The scenarios give players various points to start the campaign (or to just play to the conclusion of a shorter activity phase) or are small snippets of the action.

The special rules bring out all manner of special features of this campaign. A partial listing won't do itjustice, but a game that allows players units to "eat tree bark", use aerosan sleds, ski units, create Guards air units, run in terror (breakout movement), upgrade to halftracks, steal reinforcements from the future or adjacent armies, use partisans and special antipartisan killing squads pretty much covers everything.

The Soviet OOB was painstakingly done by Lynn Brower using original Soviet records (thankfully now available on Microfiche) and the irreplaceable works by Charles Sharp. The amount of work Lynn did on this project is simply amazing, I am in his debt.

Likewise, H. Kurt Gillies did an incredible amount of work in generating the finest Air OOB ever done on the subject. When you start seeing all those Red Airforce aircraft, all I can say is "Yes, that's right..." as I have total faith in the work Kurt did.

And never forget the long suffering playtester teams who slaved over this game endlessly and had to endure the fickle, irascible, and sometimes irrational designer (who shall remain nameless).

All in all, this game comes to you as one of the finest examples of our art applied to this topic. You can be the judge if it is or isn't the best on the topic-I just know its damn close and that the actual ranking will bebased on personal viewpoints and desires.

The Play

One thing you'll see in GBII is that the Russians are more EatG-like and the Germans are "not quite as good" as was the case in the first edition. A great effort was made to ensure the game got off on the right foot in Oct 41 (the subject of many testing restarts). This generated a German army suffering at the hands of an extended supply network with quite a few concerns regarding mobility. The initial drive is much more of a "game" than was the case in the first edition-a shoestring operation from the start. As the Indian Summer gives way to mud and frost, the German rail-net literally falls apart (something that has been under-represented in many games), units start suffering losses in trucks, tanks, and men due to the cold and bad conditions. Owen Fuller likened the German army in GBI as a "500 lb gorilla". This army has similar teeth, but its logistical weaknesses cause it to be more of a 250 lb gorilla-it gets its way, but not all the time.

Meanwhile, the Red Army is swelling with new reinforcements (given the initial disasters, this is a good thing) and will be in a position to increasingly contest German advances until they can stop the Germans and begin their own offensive. The Russian offensive will set the stage for the atstart locations for the German 1942 Summer offensive (if any) and possible set the stage for any major operations the Russians will want to do in the last 1/3 of the game (such as the Mars and/or Jupiter attempts to cut Army Group Center into bitesized chunks).

Summary

There is a lot of game here, but it was designed to be played (not admired from a distance). The map fits properly on a 4x8 foot piece of plywood. The decisions that must be made are comfortable and lack the kind of "playing with razorblades" feel that sometimes causes players to worry. Don't get me wrong, you'll pay for your sins here as in any OCS game, what I'm saying is that both sides are not "rich" enough to do just anything that comes about. Proper planning will, as always, allow your side to push the bad guys where needed, but you just don't have the ability (and neither does he) to just slap a major operation together on the fly to take advantage of a momentary lapse.

One thing I did come away from this project with is a better appreciation for the skill of both sides in this campaign. The Germans can do what they did, but it isn't something that can be done without careful thought and skilled execution. They must make thebest use of their relatively limited resources. The Russians, on the other hand, operate under the handicap of a lower overall quality, but with a dedication to deliberate operations they can make mincemeat of the Germans over time and the ground they managed to take during that first winter and spring is quite impressive. It's a heck of a ride.