From: "Pieter-Jan De Wilde" Subject: Review: Victory in Europe (2 ed.) Omega Games Victory in Europe (2 ed.) (Omega Games) Subject: the collapse of Nazi Germany (dec.)1944-(may)1945 Designer: Don W. Alexander Scale: weekly turns, corps through fronts, 1 hex = 20 miles Components: (ziplock) rules, reference booklet, 400 counters (168 combat units), 20" by 31" map, 2 play aid cards Scenarios: 1 historical, 2 hypothetical: Western Allies vs Soviets and the Eastern Front after a German Bulge victory Players: 2-3 The map covers Central Europe from Calais to Courland and from Northern-Italy to Hungary. The West Wall, Gothic Line and the East-Prussian defences are printed on the map. A few additions could be made such as the cities of Strasbourg, Bologna, Graz, Salzburg, Leipzig and Dresden to name a few; lake Balaton and the Harz mountains are missing (although the Seelow heights are represented) and so are the Scheldt river linking Antwerp to the sea and the Kiel canal. The Netherlands is 'playable'(the inundations represented by broken hexes) but looks a bit warped. One other criticism is that the dot city symbols are very small, considering their importance as objectives. Overall the map is simple but functional. The units are corps for the Western Allies and Germans (with army HQ's) and corps, armies and fronts for the Soviets. The unit factors range from a lowly 0-2-2 (attack-defense-movement) German 'static' corps to a massive 11-23-3 Soviet front. Aside from the army HQ's and the German 1st para corps units do not have historical designations, 'divisions are grouped by type'. This gives the German player a more balanced force at the expense of historical flavor. There are no distinct SS, Polish, Romanian or Canadian units; the Free French, Yugoslavian and Hungarian units are designated as such. A nice touch is that the units have their set-up hexes printed on the back. Logistics units play an important role in the game, combat units have to be within 2 hexes of one to use their full attack factor. The German player only gets 2, set-up in the West, and has to take extreme care not to lose them. The Soviet spearheads will have to halt their advance at times to allow their slow moving logistics units to catch up, as was the case in real life. Combat units have various step levels, steplosses are recorded using numeric counters and can be restored using replacement points. Once a unit is destroyed however it cannot be returned to play. HQ's may be moved by the defender to reinforce the defense of a hex under attack. Armor and mech. units can use exploitation movement. Strategic and sea movement allows for the long range shifting of forces. An interesting concept is the use of extension markers, allowing a single unit to occupy more than one hex, although this reduces the unit's combat abilities. As the game progresses the German situation steadily deteriorates, in the face of increasing Allied airpower and reinforcements and the erosion of the German reserves with the loss of cities and industrial areas (Ruhr, Hungarian oilfields). The capture/retention of objective cities determines the victor. The reference booklet contains interesting designer and player notes and clear scenario set-up instructions. If you have enjoyed Battle for Germany (DG) or Smithereens (XTR) then Victory in Europe is certainly the game for you. ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com