The Dark Valley covers the entire East Front campaign in World War II, on a 34” by 44” standard hex map stretching from Leningrad in the north to the Caucasus Mountains in the south. Three and a half 1/2” counter-sheets represent every major unit that appeared during the course of the conflict. Initially most Soviet infantry are divisions, but as the game progresses these are replaced by armies and corps, so that players are not overwhelmed by the increasing Soviet Order of Battle. German mechanized units are divisions, while their infantry is a mix of division and corps.
Although the game is a semi-monster, and covers the entirety of the conflict from the launch of Barbarossa to the end of the war, the game system emphasizes playability rather than rules overhead, allowing the players to concentrate on strategy choices rather than rules minutiae.
We were unable to get this one to the table together so Alexander played this solo while in quarantine over a couple of days and really enjoyed it.
-Grant
The Players' Aid 
This is a truly fun game to play and very solitaire friendly thanks to the chit pull system. Unlike many, I love East Front games, and the bigger the footprint, the better. With that said, this game is a medium footprint game with a large enough map and just enough counters to make one feel a good old fashioned front war. Much better game than the other games from Ted’s series of games which often have only a few counters on the map at any one point. I like running an army, not just a few counters. Nice game and nice review as always.
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