WARGAMESOSD

The European Theatre of Operations (ETO)
 
The Rise and Decline of the Third Reich

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

The German invasion of Norway - The 'Northward Strike' scenario from WWII ETO. Transport ships (STP's in top picture) loaded with troops make ready to invade, with destroyers and heavy cruiser screens (DD's and CL's) to protect them. However, in the second picture note the British home fleet at Scapa Flow, and a further task force (Task Force 2) in the Western Isles

Perhaps one of the best known wargames of the 1970's was Avalon Hill's 'The Rise and Decline of the Third Reich'. This was a fine and ground-breaking game that covered the entire Eurpean Theatre 1939-1945. It helped introduce the great tradition of modern wargaming that balanced politics with military might. Published in 1974, the game was intended for the serious gamer, and was a starting point for anyone who wanted then to go onto some of the bigger, or even, monster games that followed.

The good thing about Third Reich was that it could be played on a normal-sized dining-table and very clear rules made the learning of the game that much easier. OB's (Orders of Battle) were neatly arranged on cards and a number of scenarios offered players good choices of where to pick up the game and start play.

Another landmark game was SPI's World War II - European Theatre of Operations (otherwise known as ETO). This game, like 'Third Reich' came with multiple scenarios as well as two campaign games. More than twice the size of 'Third Reich', it gave players a large area on which to conduct the whole European war, as well as individual scenarios to play the shorter games. Games like this one, which again could still be played on a dining room-sized table, helped spawn the more detailed European games such as Europa, which looked at ETO with more detail in specific areas, such as the invasion or France or Poland, or the larger games of the Russian Campaign.
The Europa Series

The Europa series of games published by GRW and GRD are one of the most signifcant series in the history of wargaming, covering, as it attempted to do - the entire Second Word War, where it was envisaged that the whole campaign could one day be played out in Grand Europa. This was never acheived, however, the games themselves are both big enough and significant enough to attract more than two generations of wargamers over the last 35 years. The main releases of the games, though not the first editions necessarily, are as follows:

Fire in the East (Russia)Europa I 1984
Scorched Earth (Russia)Europa II1987
Marita Merkur (Balkan Front)Europa III1979
Storm Over ScandanaviaEuropa IV1998
Their Finest Hour (Battle of Britain)Europa V 1976
Western DesertEuropa VI 1982
First to Fight (Poland)Europa VII 1991
The Fall of FranceEuropa VIII 1981
The Near EastEuropa IX 1983
For Whom the Bell Tolls (Spain)Europa X 1995
Torch (North Africa)Europa XI 1985
Second Front (Normandy)Europa XII 1994
The Urals (Russia)Europa XIII 1989
A Winter War (Finland)Europa XIV 1992

'Western Desert', 'The Near East' and 'Torch' were later combined into one game called 'War in the Desert', and published in 1995 by GRD. 'Scorched Earth' and 'The Urals' cannot be played without 'Fire in the East' as they are extensions. 'For Whom the Bell Tolls' covers the Spanish Civil War.

By far the biggest individual game is 'Second Front' which contains four maps (34x22) and 5800 counters. The largest game map-wise is 'Fire in the East' with six map areas plus those added by 'Scorched Earth' and 'The Urals'.

More information about the history of the games can be found at Wikipedia and also BoardGameGeek.

It is proposed to look at ETO in more detail. Below are illustrations of some of the wargames that will be reviewed




The Struggle for Poland


ETO: The European Theatre


The Balkans
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