First off, this series is being done as a bit of a lark as wargaming has absolutely nothing to do with Christmas so if anyone is offended, please just stop reading now.

On the 3rd day of Christmas War Gaming, my true love gave to me…

3 Columns Shifting

The Russian Campaign Deluxe 5th Edition from GMT Games is true to its name as it represents the entirety of the East Front of World War II stretching from Leningrad and Finland in the north all the way to the Caucasus Oil Fields, Rostov and Stalingrad in the south. I have said this before, but there is something a bit romantic about East Front games. Long lines of contiguous counters. The German blitzkrieg pushing the Soviets back for the first dozen turns. The Soviets gaining their strength, bringing up bigger replacement units and pushing back. A continuous bloody wave of motion and combat and attrition. Bad terrain, bad weather and bad luck all combining to spoil the best laid plans of commanders. It is all here. The entire East Front in all its glory and beauty and I think that this is one of the main draws of the game and the genre. Can my decisions lead to better advances? Can I do more than historical? Can the Germans break the red wall of Soviet units and capture Moscow to knock them out of the war? All great questions that can be answered in this fairly simple and standard wargame. The game is a classic hex and counter wargame that is very playable and has enough opportunity for the Germans to win as the Axis. I have heard many people say that The Russian Campaign was their first wargame and that they played it so much that they wore the ink off of their counters. I used to think that this was just nostalgia and a fuzzy mind speaking but now after playing it I can fully understand and feel their affinity for the game, its system and mechanics. They all seamlessly work together in perfect unison to create a memorable and classic gaming experience.

One of the very unique things about the design was the way that Air Units are used. Each side has a collection of these combat assets, Stukas for the German player and Sturmoviks for the Russian player, and when they are used, they provide a very powerful 3 column shift on the Combat Results Table. This is very important in the game for several reasons but one of the main reasons is that when units are located within an Enemy Zone of Control they must attack each turn. This means that sometimes you may have a small 4-3 or 3-4 Infantry unit in an EZOC and attacking with anything less than a 2:1 odds is not advisable. And units are not that easy to replace, particularly for the Germans so you have to make tough choices sometimes and simply throw caution to the wind and go for it. But if you happen to have an Air Unit available, turning that 1:1 odds attack to a 4:1 odds attack can be game changing and not only keep your unit around but also punch holes in the stubborn Soviet or German lines and breakthrough.

I wrote a fairly detailed and in-depth First Impression post for The Russian Campaign and you can read that at the following link: https://theplayersaid.com/2023/12/05/first-impressions-the-russian-campaign-deluxe-5th-edition-from-gmt-games/

If you are interested in The Russian Campaign Deluxe 5th Edition, you can purchase a copy for $60.00 from the GMT Games website at the following link: https://www.gmtgames.com/p-591-the-russian-campaign-deluxe-5th-edition.aspx

You can catch up on the posts in this series to date at the following links:

A Patriot Militia Caught in the Open – Liberty or Death: The American Insurrection from GMT Games

2 Barrages Exploding – SCS Ardennes II from Multi-Man Publishing

-Grant