From: Jalmckinley@aol.com Subject: BLITZKRIEG review BLITZKRIEG (Avalon Hill, 1965, reprinted 1975) Let's say BLITZKRIEG was the first of the monster games, and certainly the largest published professionally in the mid-1960s. It was also an advance on TACTICS II (the use of hexagons, advance after combat, unit breakdown, and so forth, and a lot more units - some 20 armor divisions and 40 or so infantry per player, 6-7 artillery divisions, plus air power and pesky neutrals to get rid of). Enough to keep the average febrile 12-year-old mind occupied and delighted in 1965. Two major nations on a projection of some mythic continent: Great Blue on the west, Big Red on the east, representing Germany and Russia respectively. Great Blue's divided by one of the neutrals into a representation of East Prussia being separated from the Reich by the Polish Corridor. The two contenders are separated by five neutral nations. Using the old SPI BLITZKRIEG MODULE published to update this antique plus Avalon Hill's articles on the game and my own specious observations, they are: 1) Northwest-Nord Walkure (SPI identification)/Yellow (AH)/Poland (my crypto-historic ID); 2) Southwest- Sud Walkure/Green/Italy; 3) Central-Calaedia/Brown/Austria; 4) Southeast-San Estados/Black/Ukraine; and 5) Northeast-New Endor/White/Rumania. Terrain: cities, clear, rivers, mountains, landing beaches, forests, deserts and roads. The board is actually three, which is convenient since they basically fall into Blue/Neutrals/Red. The 1965 edition had Neutrals and Red linked together by a tape binding; the 1975 edition had the three boards separate. A very spacious 22" by 42" expanse with ½ inch hexagons. Color is nice for the time: green forests, yellow deserts and beaches, brown mountains (with contours by the way) red roads, blue rivers, cross-hatched cities, white's clear terrain - you get the drift. Combat results table: your normal numerical odds, with provision for something other than exchange and elimination. Hence, units can be broken down into component brigades that are provided like change. Since a brigade counts the same as a division in stacking, a player's got stimulus to retain divisions and recombine brigades - at least on the front lines. Provision for exploitation movement after combat too, and before SPI's second phase panzer exploitation was presented. Units: Infantry and marine divisions (4-4's and 6-4's, indistinguishable), armor (4-6, 6-6, and 8-6, tank and light are the same '4' strength designation), airborne assault (6-6, basically an airborne armor division, but let's be classy in nomenclature), airborne infantry (4-4) and commandoes (1-4, organized as battle groups or battalions). Separate 'breakthrough artillery divisions (8-4-4, for support and assault at a two-hex distance). Aircraft: divisions of fighters, fighter-bombers, medium and heavy bombers (4-12, 4-8, 6-10 and 8-20 respectively). Naval units: pretty much fudged unless you use the BLITZKRIEG MODULE that was actually a springboard for their STRATEGY I game. In it you have task forces - heavy units, light, carriers and transports, all combined in one unit. Avalon Hill tried grafting VICTORY IN THE PACIFIC onto the game - Blue gets the Allies, Red the Japanese - but the less said the better. There are provisions for each city having some specific economic commodity that has a relationship to replacement rates and movement. Just ignore them. The strategic air war aspect is, well, dumb. The game is basically indigestible and unplayable without house rules. Desert? Armor moves normally, non-mechanized, halved. Forests? Armor halved when attacking into same. Mountains? No armor or artillery allowed, defender doubled. Beaches? Defender doubled from all sea attacks. Cities? Defender doesn't have to retreat and is doubled in defense. All those doubled units? Remember, leg units have no zone of control, only mechanized. Add your own rules after a Thanksgiving meal or something that leaves you lethargic. Go back to your teens. Just relax. Balance? Blue with the NW and SW states has the same number of city hexes as Red with the Central, SE and NE states. Blue has more strategic depth and a slight edge in quality. My personal opinion? Just play with the neutral states, one on four, two on three, etc. and it's much more fun. The Avalon Hill GENERAL had units for each, but the MODULE listed: NW*: seven infantry divisions (4-4), three armor brigades (3-6), two fighter divisions (4-12), and one fighter-bomber division (4-8). SW*: four infantry divisions (4-4), one armor brigade (3-6), one fighter division (4-12). C**: six infantry brigades (2-4), one armor brigade (2-6). NE**: three infantry divisions (4-4), two armor brigades (2-6), one fighter division (4-12). SE**: five infantry divisions (4-4), two armor brigades (3-6), one fighter division (4-12), one fighter-bomber division (4-8). *: Allied with Red. **: Allied with Blue. Airfields, railroad heads and the rest are not being listed. Life is short. The BLITZKRIEG MODULE also gave a whole bunch of 2-2 infantry divisions and guerilla units for both Blue and Red, provisions for different types of strategies: a 'blitz' army, various 'combined' (strategic, mixed and tactical), and 'infantry' (improved, standard, and horde). This allows a chance of playing World War I and World War II on the same game board. After a bad day, convince an opponent he's the 'horde' guy and you're the 'blitz'. Or, if he's had a bad day… Regards. The game's nearly forty years old. Be gentle.