Designer: Masahiro Yamazaki
Publisher: Moments in History, 2001
Topic: The Fall of Berlin, 1945

In a Word

This is a gutty game! Forego the grand pincer movements; this game acutely mirrors the blunt trauma effect of the powerful Soviet steamroller, as players are tested in a meat-grinder of largely frontal assaults against the ever-thinning line of patchwork defense. Attrition is the key to victory, and both sides have their eyes turned constantly to a last battle in the streets of Berlin. The components are attractive, errors are insignificant, and the simulation is powerful.

Profile

Mr. Yamazaki offers this simulation of the last three climactic weeks of WWII in Europe at medium complexity and very high solitaire suitability, operational level, 2 days/turn, 5.5 km/hex (800 meters in the insert), Bn/Rgt/KG for the Germans, Corps/Demi-Corps/Rgt for the Soviets, Corps/Army for the Polish, Dvn for the Americans. There are 420 good-looking and extra thick (1/16”) multicolored counters, 22”x34” map of the battlefield from the Elbe to the Oder, with an insert of Berlin (a la Army Group North). Nice looking components.

The map is functional, attractive enough and easy to translate. The Berlin insert (the siege map) is a bit foggy but I guess that’s from all the High Explosive and stone dust. Counters are nice and thick, multiple subdued color scheme not likely to trigger seizures but easy to read and distinguish (some of the tan-on-sienna and tan-on-soft brown numbering takes close reading for my poor eyes, but that’s only the unit designations, and from On High where looks count most it blends in and complements the overall view of things instead of being a nuisance to see past!). All mobile troops have a yellow highlight bar behind the base numbers.

German units are backprinted for set-up/reinforcement information, and Soviet placement is marked on the map (with a few small errors), so set-up is quite painless. All in all, the physical quality is outstanding, counters have a clean, varnished look, and the artwork, while not gorgeous, still avoids being garish.

The designer intends the game system to be easily digested and still provide tension for both sides despite the Soviet advantage of 10:1 odds at the outset. German units are smaller scale and stacking is limited (generally one Soviet Corps with support or four German units on the operational map, two counters maximum on the siege map).

ZOCs for any unit or stack with three or more defense factors, fluid (meaning units may cross them or move from one to another at a cost in MPs, retreat through them at a cost of one step per stack per hex -- hence, single units are quite vulnerable). The Soviets find themselves at once in a traffic jam of unstackable units, and it is at once apparent that the Germans, though much weaker, have a lot of flexibility in where to assign their SPs.

Easily absorbed sequence of play on the operational map ... move/reaction move/combat/siege map stuff/Soviet exploit move (Germans get no exploit phase and Soviets get no reaction phase), separate siege map movement phase after combat on the Berlin insert. There is no combat on the siege map, only moving and overruns. Soviets have 20 support points they may use as air support (up to two per combat for column shifts) or as step-replacement points, but once used they are gone; they also have a limited (but sizeable) number of tactical support units (heavy tanks, tank destroyers, artillery) which they draw at random and once drawn are on the map (or in the Worker’s Paradise) forever.

Germans have Gotterdammerung chits which randomize column shifts on any combat; voluntary but irreversible, may be drawn over and over all game long! Gott chits also serve to determine the number of mobile units that may operate during the reaction phase, representing the vagaries of supply deliveries. Subways on the Berlin map allow for attackers to roll 1-4 for a happy column shift for infiltration (most valuable to the Soviets) and the Germans may destroy them permanently at a cost of 10 VPs.

Soviet Corps may break down into battlegroups (of two stacking points value) within the siege map, to eat up more city hexes. Soviets have very limited replacement capacity and stringent supply rules (OOS units at the end of game count as dead guys!) Germans have available four DFs of foot and two DFs of mobile replacements per turn (as long as their fixed replacement centers are still alive) and some reinforcements and Volkssturm units available. North German Plain transfers are available to the Germans if they outnumber the Soviets there (the Reds can move units into the NGP to prevent this).

The CRT is pretty bloody at more than 1.5:1 odds; more on this below. Overruns operate exactly as does combat (which is a bit surprising), the only difference being that support points may not be assigned to overruns while artillery points within the siege map may be assigned (only?) to overruns.

Points of interest in this tour are the eight transition hexes surrounding the two hexes of downtown Berlin. They are the only places where overruns are not permitted, only attacks (contradicted within the rules, but let’s assume that the direct rule overrides the later reference).

So, do the Germans try to hold them or fall back into the city, since once lost a transition hex opens onto (up to) eight city hexes? A larger related question is whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to commit German reserves to the operational map or concentrate on defending Berlin as a reverse Stalingrad.

In preliminary rounds of play, this question will need to be answered about turn six or seven, as the German line will be fatally broken by then. Victory consists of points achieved during or at the end of the game. Some hexes of note: 25 points for the Reichstag, five for the Zoo, five for various cities on the operational map (five each for the four Dresden hexes); for units, it varies from 25 for der Fuhrer, two for German mobile units, one for German foot units, five for German supply dumps, then from four for Soviet Guards mobile to one for regular foot steps, one for tactical support units, 15 for supply depots.

Also, the Soviets get five VPs if any unit is adjacent to a US division (of which there are four prowling around the West map edge) by the end of game turn six. German strategic victory is 139 points or less, Soviet strategic victory is 190 points or more.

There are some conflicts in the rules, particularly concerning stacking in the siege hexes and overruns, plus a few questions about setup and reinforcements (likely just a few mismarked counters).

I was late in requesting clarification from Critical Hit, the parent company of Moments in History, but we can be certain that they will put a Q&A list on their website soon. My questions were few, and one can predict simple answers to a very short list of problems without breaking a sweat.

The entire rulebook is available at Critical Hit, through this link: http://www.criticalhit.com/GottRul1.pdf

Gaming Gotterdammerung

At first glance, it would appear that the Germans stand no chance of holding against the Soviet juggernaut. As my good friend Todd Davis exclaimed: “Why bother to give the Germans a die to roll?” But as we both soon learned, their pitiful but numerous forces still have some defensive flexibility, while the Soviet Corps only seem overpowering on the surface. The Germans outnumber their opponents 2.75:1 in units. Soviets out weigh the Germans 3.4:1 in AFs and 2:1 in DFs.

With the stacking limits of one Corps, two Demi-Corps (applicable to the siege map,) or four German units, the Germans can succeed for a time in bottling up and rendering irrelevant a good number of the Soviet units. To make headway and not merely warm themselves behind their tanks, the Soviets must pound the German lines at less-than-desirable odds.

Additionally, deep armored penetrations are frustrated by both the supply, movement and stacking limitations. So the order of the day is to stretch and thin the defensive line, and the Soviet player must gamble that the cost is not crippling. Todd suggests using all the support points early to raise the odds and hurry the process of depleting the German force, ignoring the step-replacement value of the support points altogether.

Here is a chart for the relative values of units, not counting the Volks sturm or tactical support units:

Unit : AF/DF
German Mobile Units 1.7/2.2
German Foot Units 1.2/2.9
Soviet Armored Units 18.9/17.6
Soviet Cavalry Units 14/10
Soviet Foot Units 8.4/12.4

Multiply the German DFs by 3 or 4, and you see how deceptive their relative weakness is, especially at the beginning of the game when their line is fairly stout.

The German player also has the luxury of stacking his stronger units with cannon fodder to insulate them from combat results and retreat losses.

The Gott chits slightly favor a left shift on turns 9 to 12, slightly favor a right shift on turns 1, 2, 5 and 7. On turns 3, 4, 6 and 8 the odds are even. This means the Germans should use the random element for defense on turns 1, 2, 5 and 7 (every single combat, waddya got to lose?) and use it for attacks on turns 9- 12. And any other time you feel lucky when the odds are even. Don’t mess around with them when the advantage goes to the Soviets!!!

The German player can shift his forces anywhere on the map, while the Soviets are barred from crossing Front boundaries (there are three of them, cleanly dividing the game into three unique battles.) The German replacement centers are located in the southern (1st Ukrainian) front, the largest of the operational area, as is Dresden (20 VPs) and three 5 VP cities.

The destruction of the depots is an obvious key to Soviet success. The longer they survive, the more German units will rise from the ashes to fight again. Once the German line breaks in the South, Soviets can eliminate their ability to stack their good units with weaker ones to any significant degree. But this will take time and losses, and pincer movements will be stifled by crummy supply. Germans can counterattack only at great risk, but the time to do so will be when the Soviets overextend in the South. The Southern Front has access to Berlin.

In the North (2nd Belorussian Front) Soviet success will eliminate German reinforcements from the North German Plain. But the Soviets are out of supply on turn 1 and any time they go beyond eight hexes from the map edge until that supply dump arrives on turn 3. Berlin is beyond the reach of this Front. The Germans receive reinforcement from the NGP up to turn 7, so the battle there will be early on.

In the Center (1st BF) the battle is head-on in the direct line to Berlin, with the Soviets taking on the fortifications of Seelowe and plenty of German units. Here the meat-grinder and Soviet traffic jam will be hardest felt. Frankfurt-am-Oder (10 VPs) is close to the border, so expect a grisly fight for that right off the bat.

The Berlin siege map will be a whole new battlefield, and the Soviets must get there as soon as possible. The Germans begin stuffing the ruins with cannon fodder and reinforcements from game turn 1, so the Soviets must not tarry in “sensible” avoidance of losses on the operational map. Once there, Soviet Tactical Support units are drawn at random, containing 4-4-7 IS-2 tanks, 5-4-6 ISU-152 tank destroyers, and a couple of 7-2-2 artillery units. These “chrome” units may stack with other Soviet units, which at last can break down into smaller Demi-Corps to fight the street battle. On the siege map, only overruns are allowed, with the only other outside support (beyond the tactical units) being artillery units present any where on the siege map.

The subways may be used for a column shift on the CRT, representing infiltration. This is deadly for the Germans, as they are ill-equipped to do much overrunning themselves and the subways cover quite a bit of ground. They will have stuffed the city with 0-1-4 Volkssturm units and the odd reinforcement or survivor from the operational map to take on the Soviet heavies.

The Germans can delay the costly decision of destroying the subways (10 VPs lost) by backing up their line with a strong reaction force at the subway hexes. Good luck trying that!

A conservative game will see slow progress in the Center, few Soviet step losses, and a fatal compromise of the German lines by turn 6 or 7 in the South. This will likely be too late for a good shot at Berlin. The Germans will have garrisoned Berlin well, given the moderate pressure at the front. All twelve turns will be needed by the Soviets to get the job done, given that the victory conditions are heavily weighed towards combat losses.

Todd suggests a measured attack accepting fewer Soviet losses, making the support points available for attacks. I prefer a more hell-bent strategy, with high attrition as the fastest way to crack the German lines (now you know how to beat me!) Once thinned out, the German player will not be able to protect his decent units with easily replaced cannon fodder. More Soviet Corps will be able to attack the line in overruns and combat, speeding the process of shredding the Germans. Additionally, the Germans will be forced to spend more of their reinforcements on the operational map where they will be easy targets for destruction in the spreading front. Both Todd and I look forward to replaying this game many times over!

Conclusion

This is a game with real personality. It simulates the event superbly, making the Soviets strong but inflexible and the Germans (as they were in the actual event) weak but resourceful, forcing heavy losses onto the Soviets for every inch of ground. It is not an exercise in glory, no vast blitzkrieg, but rather a grudge match to the death. I applaud Mr. Yamazaki for his long-anticipated effort, giving the hobby a true simulation that is also terrific gaming.

Epilogue

A needed appendix: by way of disclosure, it must be mentioned here that I buy, sell and trade new and old wargames on the internet. At times this title will be among the items I have in my stash. Just for your information, I have no reason to favor this game over others for any financial reason. But even if this were a conspiracy of one, the game remains a gem!