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  A Victory Awaits Operation Barbarossa 1941 by Multi-Man Publishing   Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union by Germany, took place o...

A Victory Awaits: Operation Barbarossa 1941 by Multi-Man Publishing A Victory Awaits: Operation Barbarossa 1941 by Multi-Man Publishing

A Victory Awaits: Operation Barbarossa 1941 by Multi-Man Publishing

A Victory Awaits: Operation Barbarossa 1941 by Multi-Man Publishing





 A Victory Awaits


Operation Barbarossa 1941


by


Multi-Man Publishing







  Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union by Germany, took place on June 22nd, 1941. Many people do not know that Germany was incapable of fighting a long war. This is because of having limited natural resources, and especially oil, to fuel their economy, as well as their armed forces. Hitler had decided to attack the Soviet Union to procure all the oil etc. that Germany needed. After the abysmal showing of the Red Army against Finland in 1939/1940. The German High Command thought that it would be relatively easy to conquer the European parts of the Soviet Union. 

 This is what this game is all about. As the Germans, you have nine turns to get from one side of the map to the other, taking as many victory points as you can along the way. The Soviet player has to throw his forces at the German meat grinder to try and slow, if not stop, their forward motion.



 This is a blurb from Multi-Man Publishing about the game:

"Famed Japanese designer Tetsuya Nakamura, who created A Victory Lost, Fire in the Sky, A Most Dangerous Time, and What Price Glory?, returns to the East Front with A Victory Awaits.
 
Using a lightly modified version of the A Victory Lost system, the game covers Operation Barbarossa from June 22 to mid-September. Game play features the same chit-pull mechanics used in AVL, with 10 one-week turns. Players can play either the full campaign game, or the Army Group North, Army Group Center, or Army Group South scenarios. Each of the scenarios plays on a single map, or play the full campaign game on all three maps!
 
This design was originally published as a series of three games in Japan: Fierce Fight! Leningrad Blitzkrieg, Fierce Fight! Smolensk Blitzkrieg, and Fierce Fight! Kiev Blitzkrieg. The game also includes rules for multiplayer (four to eight players) and a series of optional rules. The rules have been expertly translated into English, with detailed assistance from the designer.
 
On the wide steppes of the Soviet Union can you emerge victorious from the opening blows of the Russo-German war?"


 So, the pedigree of the game is clearly shown. The fact that it was a trio of magazine games (boo, hiss, eye rolls) makes no difference whatsoever to me. Some of my best times in wargaming were had with magazine games. The way the game is setup you have the ability to play the full first part of Barbarossa, or you can play a scenario of each German Army Group (North, Center, and South).


 This is what comes with the game:

Three maps
Three countersheets
15-page full color rulebook
4 player aid cards
2 dice
box and lid
 
Solitaire Rating: Excellent
Complexity: Low
Playing Time: 3-15 hours
Scenarios: 4

Game scale: 
Each hex is about 10 miles (16 km).
Each turn is 10 days.
Units: Divisions.



Part of the Middle Map and Army Group Center's Attack



 This game is a bit like Barbarossa on $5 a day. You will get the full panoply of the immense invasion cut down to its bare bones. The Rulebook is only fifteen pages long. The actual rules for the game are only a little over ten pages. Then come some optional rules, the scenarios, and it also has rules for playing with up to eight people. The rulebook is in full color. Unbelievably, it has enough space to have a good number of rules examples included in it. There are two full color hard stock Player Aid Cards, one for each side. These both have the terrain chart on one side with the CRT and Sequence of Play on the other. The other two Player Aid Cards are for the four of the games separate scenarios (Leningrad, Kiev, Smolensk, and the Campaign Scenario). I am torn as far as the counters go. At first glance, I thought they were a little garish. I believe these are the deepest hues ever used for counters I have seen. They have grown on me. There is no problem reading the information on the counters. The counters do not use the 'NATO' designations that we are used to. I want to say that the designation shapes are from German sources from WWII, but I could be completely wrong.  You are also given alternative counters that show a silhouette of tanks and mechanized units instead of the rectangles and quadrilaterals. The maps are very well done. Each hex terrain is easy to see, and the artwork of the maps is plain to see. You are given three maps: Leningrad, Smolensk, and Kiev. These represent the areas of action for the German Army Group North, Center and South. So, other than the color choice on the counters, the games components pass muster.



This is part of the Northern Map



 This is the Sequence of Play:
 
 Game play proceeds using the following sequence. Once through the sequence comprises one game turn. After nine complete game turns, the game ends and victory is determined.

(1) Selection Phase. Each player secretly selects which of their command chits will be put into the cup for this turn. The command chits are mixed together into a single cup.
(2) Command Phase. One command chit is drawn blindly from the cup. The owner of the chit becomes the active player. The active player enacts the command chit (7.0).
(3) Activation Phase. If required by the command chit, the active player activates the appropriate HQ unit and any other eligible units (8.0).
(4) Operations Phase. Activated units may move and attack.
 • Movement Segment. The active player may move his activated units (9.0).
 • Combat Segment. The active player may attack enemy units with his activated units (10.0).
 After resolving steps 2-4 above, if any command chits remain in the cup, return to step 2 (Command Phase). If no chits remain in the cup, proceed to the End Phase.
(5) End Phase. Advance the turn marker into the next space on the Turn Track. Any Axis units in that space are moved to the Axis Available Box.  Return to step 1 (Selection Phase) and begin the new turn (6.0).



Part of the Kiev Map


 The game does not have separate air units. The two Air Forces strength has been built into the ground forces strength. As mentioned, this game was based upon boiling down all the extraneous rules and thoughts that are in almost all other Eastern Front games. As the German, you do not have to worry about rebuilding railroads either. That rebuilding has also been built into the system. 

 The supply rules are also different than most Eastern Front games. In all of the scenarios, the German player does not have to check if his units are in supply until turn four. As all the scenarios are nine turns, that means that he has almost half the game to run rampant on the Soviet player. 

 The game is only nine turns long. As the German player you have to get moving and keep moving. One thing to keep in mind is that destroyed Soviet units will come back to haunt you. The rebuilding of destroyed Soviet units is one of the few standard rules of Eastern Front games that is in this game. However, Soviet units that are starved out by lack of supply do not come back to haunt Ebenezer Scrooge, the German player, later in the game. So, as the German player you must hit the Soviet Union like the Road Runner. Put the Soviet units into sacks and then tighten them. Then you will not have to worry about them rising from the grave.

 The Soviet player is completely caught on his back foot. Time is generally on your side in Eastern Front games, but not this one. So, you must always be worried about if and when you strike back at the invaders. You have to be very careful not to attack and then find those same units out of supply. Of course, there are times where you just have to dig in and take those unit losses.

 The game is built on the chit pull system. There is even a chit pull for supply. So, neither side will know where the next blow will fall. This a fast-paced game even if it is actually a mini-monster. The sheer size of this part of the Soviet Union is what puts it into that category. If you have the area to play the full campaign, that is excellent. However, do remember that you can play three different one map scenarios.



Part of the Leningrad Map



 Thank you, Multi-man Publishing for allowing me to review this game. Mr. Nakamura has added another excellent game to his stable. My apologies to MMP for my tardiness with this review.

 Multi-Man Publishing has games about battles and campaigns all over the globe and from many different time periods. These games go from real monsters to much simpler easy to learn and play ones. They have numerous series of games to choose from. These include, among others:

Standard Combat Series
Operational Combat Series
Tactical Combat Series

 When looking through my collection earlier this year, I was surprised to see how many of their games I actually owned.


Robert

Multi-man Publishing:

A Victory Awaits:
 

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