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 9th day of Christmas War Gaming, my true love gave to me…
9 Army Groups Advancing
Iron, Blood, Snow & Mud is a fun, light, fast playing strategic level wargame that we found to be extremely interesting and definitely up for grabs as either side seems to be capable of winning. The game also has a puzzle like feeling to it as the German player has to figure out how best to utilize their limited units to encircle and support strong attacks against the enemy in order to capture the Soviet cities along the way to Moscow where you are hoping to capture the city, kill Stalin and end the war on the East Front. The Soviets have lots of tools at their disposal including Partisan Units to harass and block German supply lines and can also use the urban terrain itself to gain an advantage in combat to slow and frustrate the German attacks making their task that much harder.
In the game, the German player will start with a total of 13 Army Groups, including 6 Panzer Armies and 7 Infantry Armies that have to move in concert to get into position to make the best situation possible for each attack. The Panzer Armies are better and will roll more dice than the Infantry Armies so you always will want a Panzer Army as the tip of the spear but sometimes you will roll poorly and will lose one of these vital units. The Infantry Armies are best used in support as they will add +1d6 to each attack that they are adjacent to the target. Getting the most dice possible to make these attacks simply increases your odds of winning as the rolled dice are totaled for each side and the winner is the one that has more. If the attacker has doubled the defender’s roll, they will then be eliminated and removed from the board. I really enjoyed the feeling of support and engaging smartly in order to maximize the amount of dice I was getting to roll in any given combat.
In the picture above, you will notice that only 9 of the Armies are shown, including 5 of the Panzer Armies and 4 of the Infantry Armies as some of the Infantry is handling mop-up duty in the back ground as Partisans have sprung up and I lost a Panzer Army as well with poor rolling.
Here is our video review of Iron, Blood, Snow & Mud:
If you are interested in Iron, Blood, Snow & Mud, you can order a copy for €30.00 ($32.28 in US dollars) from the PHALANX website at the following link: https://phalanx.co.uk/games/iron-blood-snow-mud-2/
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
3 Columns Shifting – The Russian Campaign Deluxe 5th Edition from GMT Games
4 Relief Convoys Incoming – The Mog: Mogadishu 1994 from White Dog Games
5 Dug-In German Soldiers – Imperial Tide: The Great War, 1914-1918 from Compass Games
6 Zeroes Patrolling – Fighters of the Pacific from Capsicum Games
8 Menominee Warriors Defending – The Battle of Mackinac Island from SNAFU Design
-Grant
The Players' Aid 
Played that game twice and like it very much; also, as a solitaire puzzle in which you try to optimize German moves in first turns of the game!
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I think that you have to optimize your moves to make sure you have the ability to adjust at the end of the game if and when Stalin escapes the closing net of tanks in Moscow. Getting out to a quick start with good progress in the first 2 turns is key to victory for the Germans.
Also, battles for the Germans have to go well in the early going or they end up spending an additional round or 2 in cleaning up straggler infantry units that are holding onto urban areas. You have to clear those out to make sure they cannot spawn behind you and cut your supply. Great little game that was fun to play and most importantly looked really good on the table.
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My feelings too! Great balance of the German might and possible overstretch; will need to play more over the Christmas break!
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Looks like an interesting little game which boils the East Front down to the essentials!
Not to be that kind of grognard – but shouldn’t it be 9 armies advancing? I don’t know which terminology the game uses, but armies would make more sense if there are 9 (or more) of them; as opposed to the historical three army groups of Barbarossa (North, Center, and South).
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You are probably correct.
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