Post by Whiterook on May 20, 2024 14:58:04 GMT -5
An unintentional Grail Game for me, the reason being I owned it, bought new in the mid 80s when I got into wargaing; it was once of the first wargames I bought and owned it until about a decade ago, when I traded it on a Facebook, Pay it Forward group and kicked myself in the ass almost immediately after it left the house! For years, I felt I should just buy another copy but didn’t for whatever reasons. My copy was opened but never punched! I figured it was a good game to trade, as I’d never played it and I wasn’t used to the types of mechanics it used… but lately, I have been using similar mechanics (ZOCs and Supply Line tracing, etc.) and found even more of a reason to make a buy. I found one on FB Marketplace for $35 (and $10 shipping).
"Panzergruppe Guderian": The Battle of Smolensk, July 1941, is a wargame simulation of the German campaign to capture Smolensk in July, 1941. The game is played in twelve turns, each one representing 2 days time, on a map scale of 10.5 km/hex.
This wargame is famous for its innovative use of "untried" Soviet units. These untried Soviet counters enter play face down, their combat strength unknown to either player, until they take part in combat, at which time they are flipped to reveal their strength and defense numbers.
The game also models the effectiveness of German operations by allowing them a full mechanized movement phase both before and after combat, while the Soviets only move prior to combat. In addition, if all of a German division's regiments attack or defend in the same hex, their strength is doubled by a divisional integrity bonus.
The German player scores victory points for the capture of cities, and for any Soviet units redirected from the Southwestern Front. The Soviet player scores vp for recaptured cities and destroying entire German divisions (which possess several steps of strength).
The game includes: 1 map, counters (AH edition = 260; SPI edition = 200), 1 6-sided die, 1 Soviet reference card, 1 German reference card, 1 rules book, and 1 advanced rules insert.
This wargame is famous for its innovative use of "untried" Soviet units. These untried Soviet counters enter play face down, their combat strength unknown to either player, until they take part in combat, at which time they are flipped to reveal their strength and defense numbers.
The game also models the effectiveness of German operations by allowing them a full mechanized movement phase both before and after combat, while the Soviets only move prior to combat. In addition, if all of a German division's regiments attack or defend in the same hex, their strength is doubled by a divisional integrity bonus.
The German player scores victory points for the capture of cities, and for any Soviet units redirected from the Southwestern Front. The Soviet player scores vp for recaptured cities and destroying entire German divisions (which possess several steps of strength).
The game includes: 1 map, counters (AH edition = 260; SPI edition = 200), 1 6-sided die, 1 Soviet reference card, 1 German reference card, 1 rules book, and 1 advanced rules insert.
…all pics from BGG.
The counters are punched and clipped…
Everything looks like what I gave up, except for punched clipped/counters and a small scuff at the top of the box cover art, so I’m happy about that. I’m also trying to redesign some counters for the game.