Stephen Rawling - 05:22pm Oct 19, 1997 PST (#78 of 79)

Warning, A Long Post!

I pasted in the guts of a preview article concerning the Struggle for
Europe series by designer Rob Beyma below:

"Does a game that has German panzers rolling across the Russian Steppes,
the Allied Expeditionary force invading Normandy, Rommel and Montgomery
dueling in North Africa, and is playable, interest you? The European
Theater of World War II has always held the fascination of wargamers. My
dream for many years has been to design a World War II European Theater
game that allows players to fight the major campaigns using the same
basic game system, have enough historical detail to be a good strategic
simulation, and be simple enough to be playable and fun."

"The Struggle for Europe is such a game, actually a series of games.
Volume I of The Struggle for Europe-War Without Mercy covers the war in
the east. The campaigns in the West and North Africa will be covered in
additional games in the series. Air and naval operations are easily
integrated into a clean land system to produce a playable and fun game.
Players can fight the campaigns in the East, West, and the Mediterranean
with the same basic game system and unit counters. The mapboard is
sufficiently large to allow plenty of maneuver and combat as the
campaigns develop. The game system emphasizes player strategy and lots
of decision making each turn as opposed to complex rules and an
intricate sequence of play.

"Units The basic ground unit is the corps which consists of two or three
divisions. There are a limited number of division breakdowns and a few
airborne or commando brigades. Types of units include armor, motorized,
infantry, mountain, cavalry, airborne, and commando. The basic air unit
is the wing. There are fighters, ground attack bombers (such as Stukas
and Sturmoviks), medium bombers, strategic bombers, and transports.
Naval units include aircraft carriers, battleships, cruisers,
destroyers, and transports. The number of ships per counter runs from 1
or 2 for capital ships to 10 for destroyers. German U-boats are part of
the strategic warfare module. Major leaders such as Montgomery, Patton,
Zhukov, and Rommel are also included. There are counters to represent
major fortresses as well as Maginot, Siegfried, and Atlantic Wall
fortifications.

"In the scenarios, players act as Theater Commanders conducting
campaigns lasting from 5 to 9 months (10 to 18 turns). In The Struggle
for Europe - War Without Mercy there are a 1941 Barbarossa scenario
(German onslaught) and a 1943 Kursk (Soviet counteroffensive) scenario.
The Barbarossa scenario can be extended through March 1942 if the
players so wish. A campaign scenario allows players to refight the
entire war in the east from 1941 to 1944. There is also an introductory
4 turn 1939 scenario where Germany invades Poland. The remaining volumes
of The Struggle for Europe series will have 1940 and 1944 scenarios in
the West, a North Africa scenario, and combined fronts 1939-1941 and
1943-1944 scenarios, and the 1939-1945 campaign game. In the multi-front
campaign scenarios, players act as the General Staff of each country.
They allocate forces to the different theaters as well as fight the
campaigns.

"Weather Like the actual war, weather plays a major role in The Struggle
for Europe. Bad weather affects movement, combat, the length of supply
lines, and air/naval operations. Armor units lose their combat die roll
modifier (DRM) in mud and snow due to the impairment of their
operational mobility and air units have their bombing factor halved
primarily due to a lower sortie rate. The really bad ground conditions
found in the east during the heavy fall rains and spring thaw are
simulated by Heavy Mud. The adverse combat DRM and no exploitation makes
attacking difficult and reduces ground operations during these periods.
The winterization rules and the Axis first winter in Russia restrictions
simulate the problems facing the Germans in the East during the winter
of 1941-1942.

"The Struggle for Europe fills the void between the extremely detailed
Europa series and the more abstract grand strategic Third Reich game.
The Struggle for Europe has a lot of historical flavor designed into the
counters and mapboard. The charts and tables are relatively few in
number and are easy to use. A player turn can be played in approximately
15-20 minutes. The Struggle for Europe is a player's game! While
basically a two player game, The Struggle for Europe - especially the
War Without Mercy volume and combined fronts scenarios - lends itself
well to multiple players. This is a game that World War II gamers will
have to try.

"War Without Mercy The time is June 22, 1941. The Wehrmacht stands
poised on the Russian border; Operation Barbarossa is about to begin.
The German panzers are about to race across western Russia supported by
strong Luftwaffe formations. Can the Germans take Leningrad and Moscow
and secure a strategic victory before the onset of winter? Can the
Russians recover from the initial onslaught and stop the Germans with
their massive manpower reserves? Can the German player hold his army
together during the brutal winter of 1941-1942 and launch a successful
offensive in the summer of 1942? Will the Russian player be strong
enough to drive the Nazi invaders from his homeland in 1943-1944?

"Play The Struggle for Europe - War Without Mercy and find out. You
decide how many panzer corps and how much air support to allocate to
each army group. You determine whether Leningrad, Moscow, or Kiev (or
all three) will be the primary strategic objective for 1941. You decide
where and when to counterattack the advancing Germans and where to
unleash the Siberians. You determine where to launch the 1942 German
offensive. You decide whether to hold back the Russian reserve in 1942
or attack the weak German sectors of the front.

Well, I hope this answers most questions. War Without Mercy will retail
for $54.00