From: tony_ak@postoffice.sandybay.utas.edu.au (Tony Kerstan) Description: Victory in the West (GMT) Hi Gamers, A friend and I are just starting a game of Victory in the West (VITW), which is GMT's masterpiece of the Wehrmacht's Blitzkrieg in France and the Low Countries, 1940. Firstly, the physical components are superb. The counters are colourful and yet are easy to read. The maps (a 22x34 and a 17x22) are fantastic and emphasise all the important geopraphical features of that area of operations in 1940. The rules are arranged in the standard case format and are clear and concise. Examples of play are provided as well as designer's notes. There are five charts and tables mounted on cardstock that summarise all important rules and the initial set-up. In summary, VITW is a game that looks like it wants to be played and it plays quite well. It uses a standard movement-combat and exploitation sequence with a few modifications. VITW emphasises the important aspects of the 1940 campaign; refugees, panic or "panzer fright", the dominance of the Luftwaffe, the importance of capturing Bridges intact and the all-important integration of tanks and tactical air power. Surprisingly, there are no idiocy rules which hamstring the Allies or Axis to historical play. The historical scenarios are used for learning the game and are Axis cakewalks. However, once these are mastered, the Allied player can choose options to make the game more even, but which cost the Allies victory points. Options include: Extended Maginot Line, Expanded French Air Force, French Armoured Concentration Anglo-French-Belgian Alliance Better Franco-Belgian Co-operation, British Experiment with the Armoured Idea In the game we are about to play, I am les Bosch, and my Friend is the Allies. We decided to choose 200 points worth of options for the Allies; "Better French Morale and Training", "Better French Command Structure" and "French Strip North Africa" I will keep you informed about our campaign. Tony From: tony_ak@postoffice.utas.edu.au (Tony Kerstan) Description: Victory in the West (GMT) 11 Welcome to the first description of a Victory in the West (VITW) alternative histories campaign. Please see the previous article for background details if you are reading this first. We are playing this game without any of the errata, although in the next game we will include the errata. Allied Set-up The Dutch set up concentrated on guarding the cities and Fortress Holland. A few sacrificial units were thrown up front to frustrate the advancing Panzers. The Belgium set-up concentrated forward around Eben Emael and the Ardennes, with mechanised units guarding the major cities. The French set-up their fortress divisions in the Fortified zones across the Rhine River. The French "B" class Infantry divisions were placed in the fortress hexes along the Maginot line. The BEF was set up near Dinant and Sedan, ready to repulse any thrust through the Ardennes. The majority of french mechanised units where set up aroung Lille. Finally, a French reserve was set up at Nancy. The strategy of the Allies was to sacrifice the Belgium and Dutch units up front. The BEF was to hold the advancing Panzers while the French Armour was to be massed to attack the flanks of the advancing Panzers when they are fatigued between turns 8 to 10. Axis Set-up The Axis, avoiding the Dutch and Belgiums, concentrated 70% of the Panzer and motorised divisions along the Rhine River. The plan of attack is to smash through to Colmar, Strasbourg, Mulhouse and Epinal. the other 30%, aided with paradrops was to smash a gap through the Maginot line and strike for Nancy. The pincers were to line up at Nancy. All Allied divisions in the pocket were to destroyed by German infantry. This was to be achieved by Turn 8. After this, the Panzers are to be massed for the drive on Paris. TURN #1 A disaster! not one Coups de Main was successful! Every single ground attack failed! Only poor pre-overrun panic checks by allied player kept the first turn from being an Axis debacle. However, one hex of the Maginot line was captured. Colmar, Mulhouse and Epinal where also captured and the entire French line south of Strasbourg was destroyed. However, the Allies rolled a "1" for their exploitation check, so ALL their motorised units could move. This bottled up the breakthrough in the Maginot line as well as organising a credible defense around Nancy, Metz and Belfort. Turn #1 was definitely an Allied success. Turn two will require some quick thinking to keep the Allies off balance. If they get another low exploitation roll, the Allies may be able to re-orient their entire line and fall back to a major river line...which would be difficult to crack. So far the infantry are lagging well behind the Panzers. An aggressive Frenchman may cut up the strung out Panzers...However, I know this Frenchman won't counterattack. He will first want to re-organise his line. Sun Tzu was right when he said "know thyself and thy enemy and you will win many battles..." cheers Turn #2 coming soon... Tony From: niekd@cs.kun.nl (Niek van Diepen) Description: Re: GMT's - Victory in the West - Views? Ahill@HR.HOUSE.GOV (Allen Hill) writes: > I'm looking for views/a review of _Victory_in_the_West_ by GMT. Well, I bought it yesterday based on some recollections of favourable reviews, so I second this question. When I bought it someone mentioned that I should get some light blue paint too. He is right: the map contains an area called "Flevoland", which was claimed from the sea in the 1960s and 1970s. Since this is 1940, it is still sea. So much for map research. However, I would not be surprised if this does not affect play: the area is depicted as marsh anyway. I have a minor quibble about the east front of the Fortress Holland, which really consisted of two lines, the east front proper (outdated 19th century fortifications) placed where it is now, and the Grebbelinie, an inundated line about one hex more to the east, put together in the 1930s. This was the real main line of resistance as intended by the Dutch war plan. The Dutch OOB looks very good, no complaints there. [some questions deleted] > Do you feel like you've learned something about the campaign after > playing? Not yet, of course, but I intend to put the Dutch war plan to the test, i.e., how would they have fared with the Fallschirmjaeger out of the game or committed elsewhere, bottled up in Fortress Holland with a French Corps of 4 divisions (requested after the start of war only as a true neutral country should). Niek van Diepen (niekd@cs.kun.nl)