David Buckland - 07:13pm Dec 29, 1998 PST (#3104 of 3104) [ Mark ]

Having enjoyed Gary Graber's solitaire game on the Stalingrad encirclment
(Der Kessel, published by Competitive Edge), I was interested enough to buy
the first issue of Panzerschreck (advertised elsewhere in Consimworld),
which contains his solitaire game Reichstag: The Fall of Berlin.

The game covers the final Soviet assault on the central Citadel district of
Berlin on 29th & 30th April, which started with the Russian 150th and 171st
Divisions attacking over the Moltke Bridge, and ended with the raising of
the Hammer & Sickle over the Reichstag. The player is the Soviets, while the
game system handles the Germans.

Like Der Kessel, this is a DTP game, if that term can be defined as one
where the counters need to be cut and mounted. However, the graphics of
RTFOB are a step backwards from the relatively slick professionalism of DK -
cut-and-paste is in evidence quite literally - although this is not so bad
as to distract too much from the game.

The area-based map covers a section of central Berlin roughly 800 yards
square, bounded by the Tiergarten to the south (Chuikov's 8th Guard Army,
not in the game, was approaching the game board area from the south, but
would leave Perevertkin's 79th Corps, part of 3rd Shock Army, to capture the
Reichstag), and the River Spree to the north. So, this is a game on a much
smaller scale than Der Kessel, which covered the whole of the Stalingrad
pocket. The number of areas is smaller as well: 64 for DK, and only 29 for
RTFOB. In the Reichstag game, the significant areas are the five key
buildings: the Interior Ministry, the Kroll Opera House, the Flak Tower, the
Chancellery, and (most importantly), the Reichstag itself. A small point,
but some of the unidentified areas could, I feel, have been given their
real-life designations (eg. Area 18 is the Konigplatz), which would have
been more evocative than "Area X", and some of the streets which act as the
dividing lines between the areas could have been named (eg. The
Charlottenberger Chausee and the Zelten Allee radiating west from the
Brandenberg Gate). One other point about the map: was there really a Flak
Tower in the position the designer shows it to be, adjacent to the Moltke
Bridge? What limited information I have to hand suggests that the nearest
(the Humboldthain Flak Tower) was further north.

Units sizes are not really defined, but are probably assault squads for the
Russians (the attacking divisions formed two of these from each of the
battalions committed to the battle), while the Germans are a mixture of
tough veterans, good regular troops, Volksturm units of varying degrees of
effectiveness, and (at the bottom of the heap in terms of quality) Hitler
Jugend. Disappointingly, units of neither side are given historical
designations. While there is some excuse for this with regard to the Germans
(though even for them, the regulars/veterans still belonged to known
military formations), surely the Russians could have been given their
historical affiliations? Combat strength determines the chance of being
eliminated in any one round of combat. So, a "6" unit (German veterans) can
only be removed if the attacking forces roll a six. All Russian units are
"5"s, as are the German regulars, while the Volksturm are "4"s or "3"s, and
the HJ vary from 4 to 2. Some Russian units are designated as "elite", and
although that does not affect their survival chances in combat, it does mean
that they can fight in a follow-up to the usual one round. The Germans also
have strongpoint markers (which need to be removed before other defenders
can be tackled) guarding the key buildings and approaches, and there are
also booby traps and ambushes to help the defenders.

The chits in DK are replaced with cards, but the designer uses them as in
the earlier game to kill many birds with one stone, since each card in RTFOB
has 9 distinct uses, depending upon circumstances, from random events to
determining when and if Hitler commits suicide.

As is usual in solitaire games, the player has to balance an
often-conflicting set of requirements to achieve victory. In this case, it
is the need to raise the Soviet flag over the Reichstag without wasting too
much time, or losing too many troops, and while clearing the Citadel sector
in general. Each turn (of the 10 maximum) costs the player a point, as does
each unit lost, and each key building and strongpoint held by the Germans
when the flag is raised over the Reichstag (which does not necessarily
happen when the building is cleared of defenders - as was historically the
case). The player has to achieve victory by game end without losing more
than 15 points. Game end is either the completion of the tenth turn, or the
raising of the Red Flag, whichever comes first.

On setting up, the German units are inverted, so the player has no idea
whether the defenders of any particular area are Hitler Youth rabble, or
die-hard veterans, although you do know that the key buildings are more
heavily defended than the other areas. The Soviets start with three units
(two elite) in the northwest corner of the board, with the Chancellery at
the opposite corner, and the Reichstag to the north of that. In the first
phase of each turn, the Soviet player determines his mode of operation for
the turn. The Soviets start in Artillery mode, which has the benefit of
providing artillery strikes which can be used to weaken the defences of the
key buildings, but provides limited reinforcements. The other two modes
provide few artillery bombardments, but more reinforcements. Cautious mode
limits Russian casualties, while Aggressive enables the Russians to keep
attacking over multiple rounds. The pros and cons of each mode can make for
some difficult choices for the player, and this is compounded by the need to
decide whether to guarantee a change of mode (at the cost of a turn), or try
to implement the change immediately (with the possibility that you will
fail, and either be stuck in the same mode, or worse, lose a turn without
any benefit at all).

The second phase sees the Russians drawing a card to determine their
reinforcements and artillery barrages, followed by movement - a maximum of
two areas, which imposes the need for some forward planning on the part of
the player, since forces cannot be rushed from one sector to another as the
game progresses.

Combat, which has already been described in part follows next. Unless in
Aggressive mode, there are a maximum of two rounds of combat, with only
Russian elite units allowed to stay for the second round before retreating,
unless the defenders are overcome. Units are targeted individually, with the
firing side getting one roll per unit.

This is succeeded by the Random Events Phase. The events are skewed in
favour of the Germans, thus giving the player some additional challenges to
overcome, although some (eg. Desertion, enabling the Soviets to remove
defending units to which they are adjacent) are pro-Soviet. Random Events
are followed by the Fuhrer Event Phase, in which Hitler's status is
determined. A mixture of random and on-board developments determine the
Fuhrer's status. There is a chance that he will flee (thus costing the
Russians a VP), but more likely he will become demoralised and then later
commit suicide - each stage of this process adversely affecting the
defenders. Finally, the player determines whether the Soviet flag can be
raised over the Reichstag, and if not, play proceeds to the next turn.

Overall, given the modest price, this is a good little game. There are some
real choices for the player, and these can be added to by varying the
Victory Conditions, to reflect different Russian approaches to the battle
(eg. "Minimize Casualties", or "All-Out Advance"). The random events and
unknown defenders add sufficient uncertainty that there is no perfect plan,
and coping with these spanners in the works spices up the game. Even if it
runs to the full 10 turns, RTFOB should play to a conclusion in about 30. I
will post a replay in the After Action Reports area to give anyone
interested a better idea of how the game plays, and the various strategies
available.

Given that I have enjoyed both of Gary Graber's solitaire designs, it would
be good to see what he could do with the bigger scope of a full-scale game.
On the other hand, given the small 8.5" by 11" board, this one of the few
games I know which can be played successfully on the tray-table of a
standard airplane seat (though I would advise booking the window). Is there
a mile-high club for wargamers?