Game: Eastern Front 2

Thread: Defending the Motherland in the Spring '41 variant?

Theo27 — 2008-08-15T18:57:21+00:00

After having played the historic set-ups (Summer '41 and Summer '43) a number of times, I've attempted the "what if" variant starting Barbarossa in Spring '41 rather than the historical Summer '41 launch.
Given the same set up as Summer '41 except the fresh German unit in Hungary now begins spent and on USSR turn 1, Soviet production income is reduced from 5 to 3. What I'm attempting to devise is a workable defense strategy for saving Russia in the early phase of this variant?

I anticipate the Germans attacking Riga, Minsk and Lvov in the Spring and should end their turn taking each territory and having as few as 2 and likely more of their 10 units spent. While I'd love to hold Smolensk as it protects both the approaches to Leningrad and Moscow with a production income of only 3 on turn 1, I don't see this as plausible with the limited forces available. So what to defend?

The Soviets can either keep 1 unit on each frontline hex (Leningrad, Smolensk, Kiev and Odessa) or group their fronts? The problem with only having 3 prodcution income is what to spend these on? It's tempting to refresh 3 of the starting 4 fronts. My thought is to spend 1 to refresh the second Moscow production facility and refresh two of the starting fronts. I realize this goes against the standard advice to mobilize 1 new Soviet front each turn, but I'm guessing that it's worth the effort of making a stand at Leningrad.

My intent is to start the Summer of 1941 with both fresh fronts at Leningrad and to deploy the remaining spent fronts to Smolensk and Kharkov. During the Summer of 1941, the Germans can attack Leningrad with 1 unit from Riga and assuming they take Smolensk a second via a flanking attack, however with 2 fresh fronts in Leningrad the Germans can't take the territory and may decide not to waste the effort and focus elsewhere.

The Germans can attack and take Odessa, Kiev and Smolensk during the Summer but I won't be surprised if an aggressive player attacked Leningrad just to force the Soviets to spend their production income on refreshing Fronts there. Thankfully the Soviets will have their normal production income which should remain at 5. It reamins 5 due to refreshing the second Moscow facility in the Spring offeseting the loss of the Leningrad facility.

The Soviets must use the Summer of '41 to prepare for the defense of Moscow. By holding Leningrad in the Summer the Germans can attack Moscow in the Fall with at most 3 units; 2 directly from Smolesnk and a third from Smolensk through Kursk via flanking attack. While 2 hits in Moscow could be absorbed by the 2 production facilities, Moscow should be held by two fresh fronts if at all possible.

It seems to me that the Soviets should spend their 5 prodcition points in the Summer as follows: 1 to refresh the Stalingrad production facility, 2 to Mobilize a new front probably in Moscow and the remaining 2 to refresh spent fronts in Moscow and Leningrad. The risk being that if both fronts in Leningrad became spent in the summer the Soviets face a difficult decision as to whether to risk holding either Leningrad or Moscow with a single fresh front while the other has two.

The Germans have the option in the Fall of attacking both Moscow and Leningrad to degrade the Soviet forces even if they can't take either city. With the defense I described,the Germans will take Kursk, Kharkov and possibly Sevastapol uncontested in the Fall or 1941. Taking Kursk will require the Soviets to fortify Siberia with a fresh front. Taking Kharkov deprives a prodcution facility and sets up attacks on Vornezh and possibly Rostov in the Winter and Stalingrad and Grozny in the Spring of 1942.

As challenging as defending Russia is in the historical Summer start, this Spring 1941 start seems to open up even more troubles for the Soviet defender. I'll be curious what others make of this beginning defense strategy for the Spring variant and welcome your feedback?

Thread: Re: The Red Tide

Theo27 — 2008-05-19T17:11:09+00:00

I appreciate your reports and E Butler, I missed that flanking rule at first as well. I've really enjoyed the game but find myself struggling as the Germans on the offensive. I can match the historical advances up to the winter of 1941-42, however feel that I need a nearly flawless attack to have enough fresh units to either attempt to take Moscow or drive south to Stalingrad.

I think in part this is because the game so well captures the historical factors that stalled Barbarossa and permitted the Soviets to go over to the attack. Permitting the factories in key Soviet cities to absorb hits really enables an over matched Soviet defense to have a good chance of success. While the larger stacks are nice I find the Germans need to be able to hit one of these key defended cities from multiple sides to have a chance of success.

I also find in the standard game that the Soviet player can end the war rapidly if they can sufficently balance their forces early on in order to hold the facilty in Kharkov. Even if this holds I don't think I've seen a game end earlier than Summer or Fall 1943.

I really enjoyed playing the optional spring 1941 launch of Barbarossa which truly made a difference in attacking Leningrad and Moscow in strength. I also enjoy playing the Kursk (Summer 1943)on start. While the Germans have almost zero chance for a strong offensive, the Germans are surprisingly good at challenging the Soviets to run out the historic clock even if you add the D-Day invasion repulsed rules.

Bravo Professor Sabin on an outstanding sim!

Thread: Rules Updates: summary list of changes from ver. 1.07 to 1.08 (Jan 2008 version)

moonglum01 — 2008-02-24T17:00:25+00:00

Nice to see that this free print & Play game is still getting support from the author. I notice that there are a few tweeks to the rules in the latest version.

I haven't had a chance to play the new rules, but on the face it looks like the update gives the Soviets a slight boost in the mid-game with the additional far east production influx, but gives the Axis a slight boost in the end game because of reduction in Siberia production centers from 4 to 3 and the variable instead of automatic -1 Axis production after 1943.

EASTERN FRONT 2 RULES CHANGES (2007 ver 1.07 vs. 2008 version 1.08)

MOVEMENT

NEW: No Axis units, and only one Soviet unit, may be moved on the first turn.

OLD: Both movement phases are omitted in the Summer 41 turn.

STACKING

NEW: The Sebastopol hex may only ever hold 2 units.

OLD: No special stacking rule for Sebastopol.

PRODUCTION

NEW: The USSR receives 4 extra production points in winter 1941 and 2 extra points in winter 1942, to reflect the employment of STAVKA reserves and Axis unpreparedness for the harsh climate.

OLD: In winter 1941 the spent Soviet production units in Siberia also yield one production point each.

NEW: From autumn 1943, the Axis player must roll a die in each of his production phases, and if the score does not exceed his production point total, one point is lost to reflect the impact of Allied bombing.

OLD: From Autumn 1943 on, one axis production point is lost due to allied bombing.

INITIAL SET-UP

NEW: Siberia (1 fresh, 2 spent)

OLD: Siberia (1 fresh, 3 spent)

NEW: Moscow (no units at start) *Unit has been moved to Soviet Mobilization box

OLD: Moscow (1 spent)

NEW: Soviet Mobilization Box (8 fresh)

OLD: Soviet Mobilization Box (7 fresh)

Thread: Re: The Red Tide

moonglum01 — 2007-10-04T22:56:15+00:00

Wow, tough luck for the Germans, although I am trying to figure out how Budapest fell so early - If the Germans held Lvov then lost it there would have been ample warning of an impending attack - since Budapest is on the opposite side of the Carpathian Mountains only one combat unit could have made the attack, so all the German Player would have needed to do was garrison Budapest with one fresh army and it would have made a victory impossible(note the rule only one unit may attack across a mountain hex, not two).

Konigsberg fell in 42?!

An early German victory is tough, but an early Russian victory is almost (but not completely - as this after action report reveals) impossible.

One thing that I didn't catch on my first two plays of the game is that the 'blitz' rule is actually very restrictive.(One) fresh advancing unit may make an attack from the hex that has been taken however (this is the part I missed) the hex that is attacked must be adjacent to the hex where the unit advanced from NOT THE SAME AS A HEX ADJACENT TO THE ATTACKERS HEX - Blitzes can't be used to drive into a undefended rear hex, they are used to outflank frontline hexes.

Don't prejudge this game on a first play, for what it is the game is really a gem - being FREE is just an added bonus.

Thread: The Red Tide

FNH1 — 2007-07-21T21:09:04+00:00

This was my first play of Eastern Front(2).

The initial attack by the Germans pushed the Ruskies back off of their start lines losing Lvov and Minsk. Troops in Leningrad were degraded and this was a serious cause for concern as it was close to a victory goal.

The Russians rushed troops forwards from Siberia to Bolster the line. They carried out no attacks during this phase as that would have left them open to a two attacks throwing the whole line into retreat. A russian policy of starting replenishment by activating a depleted production unit every turn before restoring troops was implemented. Nearly all of the depleted troops were replenished.

The German plan of attack became a holding action in the south and a massing of troops in the north. This placed a lot of pressure on the Russians as the were unable to match the stacking of the german units. Smolensk was reduced as was Leningrad. Leningrad had no defences left but fortunately the germans were also depleted.

It was now that the first Russian breakthrough came, they destroyed the production facility in Budapest and moved in, effectively splitting the german forces. there was a change in the flow of the battle.

The German player felt the loss of the production keenly and could not fully replenish the most needy troops. Konigsberg fell to the Russian tide and this sealed the game. The two German wings were split, Prague fell and the German player conceeded. It was Autumn 42

It is a good game. It's unbalanced so I recommend you play two game, once on each side.

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moonglum01 — 2006-12-02T19:24:40+00:00

Using A&A parts with small map

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moonglum01 — 2006-12-02T19:13:59+00:00

Eastern Front with A&A parts

Thread: Re: East Front 2: A print&play to good to be free, but it is!

moonglum01 — 2006-11-28T17:09:31+00:00

"Looks like a great way to use old Axis and Allies pieces: tanks for fresh units, infantry for spent ones."

Haha, great minds think alike. - I actually printed out a poster sized map because I was thinking of using Corgi (collectable metal) tanks I picked up at Wal-Mart for the fresh armies and HO soldiers for spent units. I was also thinking that I could get some A&A minis for effect.

Thread: Re: East Front 2: A print&play to good to be free, but it is!

castiglione — 2006-11-28T03:55:47+00:00

There're a bunch of games on the Kings College site. The one on Jutland looks interesting...

Thread: Re: East Front 2: A print&play to good to be free, but it is

Sunray11 — 2006-11-28T03:31:23+00:00

Looks like a great way to use old Axis and Allies pieces: tanks for fresh units, infantry for spent ones.

Thread: East Front 2: A print&play to good to be free, but it is!

moonglum01 — 2006-11-27T17:06:51+00:00

Let’s say you went to one of those new Indian Casino and lost everything you owned except for a D6 and three pieces of blank paper… and a printer…. Or wait, an even better analogy, lets say you got a mortgage, insurance, oil bill, electric bill, taxes, car payments, credit cards, student loans, and two kids and a wife who bleed you dry (aaaaahhh! the horror) well you would still be one happy gamer because you could print and play Eastern Front 2, a very fine game.

First play impressions

The Parts: There are two picture files, one for the map and one for the counter. The graphics are .bmp files and my printer wants to print them out as photos. I printed out my copy as a 5x7 photo which is small enough to fit nicely in a zip-lock bag. I wanted a game to toss it in the glovebox of my car. One never knows when one will need a game, best to be prepared – you know, flares, jumper cables, flashlight, game) I printed the rules in columns and shrunk the font a bit to make it fit onto two sides of a single piece of paper. Tossed in a micro dice and … TADA! Instant travel game.

The Rules: The rules are only 4 pages and there is a very useful ‘example of play’ section. The rules are very thorough and well written. The designers did an excellent job of keeping the rules section very concise by moving all of the extraneous information to a very extensive ‘designers notes’. As a result the rules, though short are very meaty – every sentence has meaning. My only beef with the rules is that there should have been some ‘subsections’ or even the use of the reference system (1.1, 1.01, refer to 2.22 etc..) also a player aid card would be very helpful (I think I’ll make one up after this review).

Game Play:

Sequence of play: 1. Move, 2. Attack (roll 1 d6 hit on modified roll of 3), 3. Resupply units.
Units: 10 armies Axis; 12 (max) Soviets

Soon enough the chance presented itself to try out my new travel game. I met up with an old gamer friend of mine over the holidays, as we both have young kids gamming normally is out of the question (If you don’t have small children you might not be aware of the, ‘I need to touch everything and do everything you do’ and ‘I wanna play too daddy’ phase kids go through). My friend and I wracked our brains for a plan, how to leave the kids completely unsupervised and out of our hair so we could have a few uninterrupted hours to devote to the game… hummm tossing them outside was out because of the convicted pedophile living down the street, we considered the old lock’m in the closet idea (not bad) but they might get antsy after a few minutes. Then in a flash it dawned on us! McDonalds playland! Hahahaha brilliant!

With happy meals in hand we chose the Mayor McCheese table and set up the simulation of the epic struggle under the watchful eyes of the life-sized Ronald McDonald statue. The kids quickly ate then disappeared into the maze. We were finally free, our plan had worked!

In our game I took the Axis and Dean was the Soviets. I opened the war with attacks on Riga, Minsk and Lvov. I took all my initial objectives, but I rolled poorly and as a result almost my entire army ended the summer ‘spent’ – a situation that was to haunt me for my entire game, as I was never able to get my entire army ‘fresh’ at any point in the game. At the end of the turn I resupplied most of my front line troops and the Rumanians (the Hungarians, who had failed on their first try across the Carpathian Mountains were left to ‘spent’ for the rest of the game). The Russians retreated and resupplied, they used some of their supply points to bring in a new unit. Fall and Winter 41’ saw the Germans plow into Russia taking Smolensk, Kiev, Odessa and Sevastopol. Winter 41’ also proved to be the Axis undoing as a series of poor rolls again left the Germans completely ‘spent’ with little to show for it. The Germans failed to capture Kharkov and ‘spent’ four armies in the process (the Germans can only resupply 5 units per turn). Attacks against Leningrad from Riga and Smolensk also failed to dislodge the defender. The Russians were in no shape to counterattack in the winter, but they did bring in another army from Siberia and rebuilt a production center.

1942 saw the tide begin to swing, the Soviets were now able to bring in three full strength armies to defend the Kharkov region, while they conducted spoiling attacks elsewhere on the front. The Fuhrer became obsessed with taking Kharkov and 42’ was a year of massive battles on the central steeps of Russia, while the Germans also attempted to hold their ground to the north.

With the Axis stopped in their tracks 43’ was the beginning of the end. Germany was suffering under the allied bombing (resupply reduced to 4 armies/turn). The Russians had become much more efficient and their armor had vastly improved (+1 to die rolls summer, fall, winter). Spring 43’ had the Germans holding the status quo, but Summer 43’ was a looming and the Germans were in very poor shape with the Russians outnumbering them in units and having more than twice the production output.

At that moment – mercifully for me, the kids returned (alive) and said they wanted to go. I conceded, with 8 more turns left the Soviets were poised to begin their roll to Berlin and the Axis was in no condition to slow them down.

Play time 8 turns took about 1.5 hours (a full game is 16 turns). I think it would go about twice as fast if you were familiar with the system.

Overall Impressions: Deceptively simple. The object is take 2 of 3 ‘Key Cities’ (Leningrad, Moscow, Stalingrad or Berlin, Konigsberg, Prague) -or- the Germans win if they have more units adjacent to the ‘Siberia’ hexes then the Russians have units in Siberia. –or- the Germans win if they are still in the game after the Spring 45’ turn.

Each game turn represents one season (4 turns per year) On summer and fall turns the Germans get a +1 on their combat rolls, the Soviets get a +1 on winter turns and after 43’ a +1 during summer/fall.

Movement phase: only 2 units may move per move phase, they may (strategically) deploy into any friendly hex. Movement also happens during advance/ retreat after combat and during exploitation. The main issue here is that a player needs to be thinking a few turns in advance if they are going to try to shift the focus of combat from one part of the front to another. A hex can only hold a limited # of units, the number changes during the game: in 41’ the Germans can stack 4, the Soviets 2 (a big Axis advantage). 42’ it’s 4/3 then in 43’ on the Russians gain the upper hand with ¾. A very smart way to reflect the change in combat efficiency without adding piles of counters.

Combat Phase: The combat mechanics are a bit unique and quite clever. Combat is each player phase is sequential, not simultaneous. One attack must be completed before the next begins and the results of each combat can affect the next combat (ie. A unit that retreats can again be attacked if it was forced to retreat next to an enemy unit). A maximum of two units in a stack can attack across a hex-side and the second unit can attack only if the stack has more units in it then adjacent enemy hexes (not units, hexes). Basically a unit attacks by rolling a 3-6 on a d6. If a hit is scored the defender drops a step or if already at ‘spent’ the unit must retreat. The attacking unit becomes ‘spent’ after attack. Few units ever die, this is really a game of position.

If a hex falls and there is a fresh unit available to advance there is the possibility of a second attack (blitz).

Units die only if they can’t retreat due to stacking limits.

Resupply Phase: Based on production rates (5 for the Axis, variable for the Russians) spent units are flipped to fresh, disrupted production cities can be made active and units from the Soviet mobilization pool can be activated.

Overall View: The game plays very well and has a nice flow. The Germans must decide early if they are going to try for a quick victory by blasting towards Leningrad/Moscow in 41’ and 42’. The other option is to push south and destroy Soviet production centers in the Caucasus, then turn north and force the Russians back to Siberia. The Russians must hold out early, but always balance the long-term needs of bringing more production on line. Balancing production, mobilization and immediate needs of the front is the key to Soviet victory.

The low unit count (10 Axis, 12 Russians) makes it a good game for people who hate trying to keep track of the huge number of forces (as are normally found in east front games). The combat system and limited move ability is designed to force players to focus on long-range goals. Victory/ Defeat is not determined by 1 battle, but it’s the culmination of decisions made over several turns.

Overall – great game.

E.

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a_parkin_w_o_w — 2005-12-04T18:58:24+00:00

Map and countersheet (front)