Summer Lightning

September 1st, 1939… Panzers roll across Germany’s border with Poland, intent on the subjugation of their neighbour. In front of the German soldiers lay thousands of square miles to conquer, under them eager tanks, and leading them the officers keen to let loose a new type of war…Lightning War… the Blitzkrieg.

Welcome to Summer Lightning: The Invasion of Poland 1939, an operational-level game by veteran designer, Brian Train. In Summer Lightning gamers control brigades, divisions, and even corps of German, Polish, Slovakian, and Russian units in a proven game system (Autumn Mist, Balkan Storm) that features an interactive sequence of play and near-diceless combat that both shows the historical German superiority in command and control and yet is flexible enough to allow players to explore many variations and options, so that the game can be as equal (or unequal) a contest as they want. Options include: variable Polish deployments; greater or lesser surprise and speed of mobilization; changed attitudes of the Soviet Union or neighbouring countries; French intervention; Plan Zachod (the Romanian Bridgehead Strategy); and even the possibility that the Blitzkrieg, so appealing in theory, fizzles out on the battlefield.