Overview: Europe Engulfed covers WWII from the moment the Germans first step into Poland until Germany's collapse (unless the Axis player is skilled). Each turn consists of a two month time period in which a country will decide what they need to produce, and then how best they can use it to further their specific goals.
A country can choose from several options including naval, air, and ground units. One of the more important choices is the purchase of "Special Actions". By spending these special actions a player can simulate Germany's Blitzkrieg, or quickly reinforce a battle (a great tactic for the USSR. There are other options at a player's disposal with special actions too. Any player that refuses to buy these actions, will find that he fights a WWI style campaign, with mass armies advancing to slug it out head-on with their enemy (For example, France has 1 special action in their force pool, simulating their total inability to understand the new rules of modern war).
Once they are ready, the players use their selected purchases to the best of their ability/strategy. As Germany, you can choose to unleash a mass U-Boat campaign, slowly choking the life out of Great Britain. You might also choose to unleash wave after wave of bombers over London, trying to tear up the Industrial might (Called "WERPS") of the Allied Nations. In the east, there are so many different strategies, that the German player will need to keep a specific objective in mind, or slowly be swarmed in the Russian plains.
Britain and the USSR both have different paths that they can take. Britain might let France be defeated in the hopes that they can save their WERPS for "at home" purchases. They might also try to Lend-Lease their dollars across two dangerous routes to the USSR, where they can be better spent by directly engaging the enemy.
The USSR needs to consider buying quality troops like armor, or going to the more traditional method of mass conscription. There are several options at the USSR's disposal, including a mass draft of infantry that is taken for free! The trade-off on that particular strategy though, is that units become more expensive in the future as fighting quality men are tougher to find.
The United States will eventually weigh in on the subject, and bring her industrial might to bear. As with most games, the U.S. strategy is the basic and easy to apply. The U.S. player should support her allies with lend-lease, and use the remaining production to buy up mass men and machines. Since the U.S. can easily replace her losses, the war of attrition that may occur is simply a matter of logistics, not dollars.
THE HIGHS: The ease of play for such a big game is incredible. Not alot of historical accuracy is lost in the overall game, as the allotment of special actions (the backbone of the game) seems to keep every country moving in generally the right direction. That is not to say that changing history is not impossible, but let's be honest, every player wants to feel like history has at least SOME part in the game.
The mapboard is very well done. Areas are big and brightly coloured. It is easy to see where borders are (unlike Columbia's Front series, where it is nearly impossible). Fitting blocks into most areas is quite easy, and when it is impossible, markers are provided so you can keep the board free and move the units off to the side (a good campaign into Russia usually clears a few units away! ).
The board charts/legends themselves allow you to forego looking into the rulebook every five minutes. There are plenty of rulebook references around too, so that you can go right to the spot that covers your questions without fumbling around.
The blocks themselves are quite a bit smaller than you might expect, and that allows for much less map clutter. You can also move blocks around easily, without risking the collapse of several blocks if your finger should slip.
THE LOWS: Not many bad points to cover here. The closeness in hue of some of the colours causes some confusion. You should be very careful when applying stickers to the blocks. The Italian green is very close to the American green for example.
The map could have used a terrain effects chart. Often I find myself looking in the rulebook to remember what a frozen swamp does to attacking units.
OVERALL IMPRESSION: Very simply, I am delighted with this game. It is the perfect balance between strategy and ease of play that I had been hoping for with the Front Series (Columbia Games). Specifically, this allows me one of the rare luxuries in wargaming: new opponents! After watching a turn or two, it is not uncommon for someone to mention "Hey, I can probably play this one!". That is a good thing too, since Europe Engulfed can handle 3 players.
It is money well spent, and I predict that many people will finally put away their copies of "Axis and Allies", and make this game their new obsession.
I would highly recommend this game to anyone who is remotely interested in wargaming, or wanting to get into the hobby.