Game: Barbarossa Army Group North, 1941

Image

Antz — 2008-08-31T12:24:24+00:00

Unit Type Symbols

Image

Antz — 2008-08-31T12:23:34+00:00

How to Read the Units

Image

Antz — 2008-08-31T12:22:37+00:00

Extra Sheet

Image

Antz — 2008-08-31T12:21:44+00:00

Sheet 4

Image

Antz — 2008-08-31T12:20:13+00:00

Sheet 3

Image

Antz — 2008-08-31T12:19:04+00:00

Sheet 2

Image

Antz — 2008-08-31T12:18:04+00:00

Sheet 1

Thread: Re: It's in the P500!

squonk — 2007-10-10T02:08:05+00:00

Oh man. This could be bad. Assuming they reprint the rest of the series, including Typhoon, plus Kiev to Rostov, about $70/game, that's $350, plus shipping. Can I afford to buy? Can I afford not to? Yes, I can, but will I? I don't know!

Thread: Re: It's in the P500!

MadBrad — 2007-10-10T00:56:40+00:00

The Gods of Wargaming smile upon us! Great news indeed.

Thread: It's in the P500!

Champion Eternal — 2007-10-07T18:50:03+00:00

GMT has just made the reprint of Barbarossa Army Group North, 1941 available in the P500.

Yippee!

Image

Xookliba — 2007-08-29T00:57:56+00:00

Combined EFS map (cyberboard)

Image

Xookliba — 2007-08-29T00:36:38+00:00

Tallinn scenario (Randy Stone's Cyberboard combined EFS gamebox)

Image

Xookliba — 2007-08-29T00:32:09+00:00

Leningrad inset map (Randy Stone's Cyberboard combined EFS gamebox)

Thread: Re: Worth the price of admission

mikebagh — 2007-03-28T18:36:50+00:00

Steve, I was a huge Europa (Fire in the East) guy, but the scenarios these games offer make it playable. I wouldn't mind playing the full campaign sometime either, but with 5 game turn scenarios (or so) you can certainly play in one weekend.

Thread: Scenario 4

mikebagh — 2007-03-28T01:50:45+00:00

I took a long break from wargaming (probably 10 years) with grad school, marriage, a child, and starting 2 businesses. But I got the bug again and discovered this game.

I was a big Europa fan (Fire in the East), and when I saw the detail and level of this game, I was hooked (I like monster games).

I tried this scenario as my first (given background/experience), given the few air counters and some early turn restrictions (no strategic movement).

A real disaster for the German side. I attacked up the rail line from Tilsit, sensible given the supply rules and force layout. I had excellent progress in this region, taking Siauliai by turn 2. But not being familiar with the system, I wasn't aggressive enough to get around Kaunas with armor (as was done historically). The frontal assault on this key objective ground down, poor rolls didn't help, but I was unable to take the city even by turn 4. Not good at all.

Without getting support up the road from Kaunas, forget any realistic attempt on Daugavpils. I had units approaching by turn 4, but with only 5 German VPs (for Siauliai, a destroyed HQ and 1 point for Soviet Arm/Art steps lost), it was a clear Soviet victory.

A second attempt at the scenario fared much better. I was able to move a Pz Div around the back side of Kaunas, moved more aggressively on all front, and still took Siauliai by turn 2, and Kaunas by turn 3. This both freed up units for exiting the scenario, and an advance on Daugavpils by 3 Mot Div (the SS and the other 2 Mot Div) along with a Pz Div led to the city falling by GT 5. Not bad, and a clear German victory.

Compared to historical timeframes, not great (the Germans took Kaunas by turn 2 and Daugavpils by turn 3 (if I remember correctly), though I did better by taking Siauliai earlier than anticipated.

All in all, an excellent game and scenario. It's fun to play monster games with workable scenarios that we can squeeze in (5 game turns for this one) when we can.

Thread: Re: Worth the price of admission

sherron — 2006-07-12T03:58:54+00:00

I just looked at some of the details from the web site, I played Fire in the East and AGN has a lot more detail I can't imagine playing a campaign game it took us (Jim and I) 10 years to play June II 41 to Dec II 1943, then we quit. It looks like the ultimate game on the Barbarossa campaign.

Thread: Worth the price of admission

Panzer — 2006-07-11T16:20:29+00:00

Even though EFS:AGN is out of print at the moment, it will eventually be reprinted according to Tony Curtis and Vance Von Bories of GMT Games.
If you can find a copy on Boardgamegeek or Ebay it is definitely worth the price of admission.

From www.Wargalley.com

"In 1941 Germany invaded the Soviet Union. Attempting to deal a "knock-out blow" to the Soviet colossus, Germany and its allies sent in 21 panzer divisions, 10 motorized divisions, and 163 infantry divisions. The biggest military effort ever in the history of mankind. The battles in 1941 laid bare the deficiencies of the Soviet military forces. Led by mostly inexperienced officers, paralyzed by rigid command structure, and bereft of initiative, the Soviets suffered terribly against the well oiled Axis armies. The GMT Barbarrossa games simulate these military operations in 1941 on the Eastern Front."

Units in the game are everything from companies to divisions
Air units are groups of several planes.Unit types cover rail guns, NKVD troops, river flotillas, and more. Counters are in full color, include handy reference information for determing which counters are needed for which scenarios/campaigns. The game includes full color maps, scenario set up cards, series rulebook, game book for the specific game and more.
The scale is 5 miles to the hex.

The game has very unique terrain effects which are affected by the weather and for it's time unsurpassed until the release of Wacht Am Rhein 2 by Decision Games. Supply plays a big factor in the game but not to the extent it does in MMP's OCS series games. Unsupplied attacks are penalized but not prohibited.Combat is intuitive and easy to calculate.Replacements and reinforcements are available.

The system reflects the rigid Russian command and control systems of 1941 through the use of Headquarters units while reflecting the looser style of the Heer in 1941 by not using seperate HQs for the German units.

The system uses victory points which are calculated per turn. There are
points for mandated attacks not made, for accepting or refusing reinforcements, location control and more.

One of the best parts of the EFS system is that it links together. You can combine Army Group North, Center, and South into one massive campaign game (come to Consimworld Expo to see it played this way) or you can play the one map scenarios included in each game. Typhoon, the original game by Vance Von Bories is going to be updated and reprinted and the newest game in the series, EFS: Kiev to Rostov is undergoing playtesting as of this time (7/2006) with a target date of going on the GMT P500 system list of November 2006.

While the game is not for beginning wargamers, it can be learned quickly by watching the presentations on www.wargalley.com and watching a few turns being played. The mechanics are simple, the strategy for winning requires finesse and repeated playing.

The best game representing the Barbarossa invasion that I have found.