A Time for Trumpets (ATFT) is a battalion level game of the Battle of the Bulge. The game system incorporates a number of concepts from two the highly playable games on the same subject: Bitter Woods by The Avalon Hill Game Company and the iconic battalion level Wacht am Rhein from SPI in 1977. In addition, the command and control concepts devised for the TAHGC version of The Siege of Jerusalem were utilized.

Most of the ground combat units in “ATFT” are battalion sized combat units. The battalion is homogeneous with regard to mission and functionality. Homogeneous, because an infantry battalion is comprised primarily of infantry companies, a tank battalion is comprised primarily of tank companies, etc. A battalion based game is designed with differentiation inherent to the system, whereas a regimental level game is designed with integration inherent to the system. For example, in a battalion level game, Kampfgruppe Peiper will include at least two separate panzer battalions, a panzer grenadier battalion, an AA battalion and an artillery battalion; whereas in a regimental level game, KGP will be comprised of one counter representing all of the aforementioned units.

The Divisional compositions include HQ, the front line battalions and the combat support battalions: recon, engineers, anti-tank, anti-aircraft and artillery. The individual field battalions perform game functions that attempt to simulate the battlefield actions of their real-life models. The aircraft squadrons include those that were most numerous over the battlefield in December 1944: P47, B26, ME109, JU88 and ME262.

Front line battalions are the primary forces that try to wrest territory from the enemy, while also being assigned to prevent the enemy from doing likewise. Armored recon units function as cavalry, which is a difficult proposition given the   weapons employed. Engineers perform the specialized missions that can only be approximated in higher level. In addition to lending their expertise to direct combat in a combined arms fashion, they construct strong defensive positions and bridges, and of course, they blow things up. Anti-tank units provide a strong backbone to defensive positions while still possessing a moderate offensive potential. Light anti-aircraft provides defense against aircraft while effectively creating problems for enemy infantry not supported by tanks. Heavy anti-aircraft provides enhanced defense against aircraft while stiffening resistance against enemy tanks. Last, but not least, conventional field artillery (FA) and massed German rocket artillery (NW) rules the battlefield when they are able to achieve local superiority.

In order to maintain the combat Divisions and Brigades as cohesive and compact entities, the successful command and control concepts similar to those of Wacht Am Rhein 1977 have been utilized. Division/Brigade combats units must be in Command Range of their HQ, while their HQ must be in Command Range of their Corps HQ, etc. Much effort has been expended to make this system easy to play. Every formation has been color-coded, so that visual segregation and recognition are immediately obvious. 

The game map is at the scale of one hex equals a mile and was developed using the 1-50,000 1943-1944 GSGS 4040 and GSGS 4507 topographical maps. Players will easily recognize the influence of the Bitter Woods game map as terrain is easily recognized and differentiated.

Game concepts include: HQ activation status (active or resting), fatigue and exhaustion, command and control, formation supply, supply by air, German fuel shortages, American supply dumps,  ground conditions, atmospheric conditions, air strafing and interdiction, construction of defensive positions and bridges, demolition, sacrosanct formation boundaries, limited winter movement across rivers and streams, strategic movement, infiltration due to limited visibility, over-run of vulnerable units, German night combat advantage, Kampfgruppe Peiper Breakout, German Nebelwerfer Operations, German FA Operations, Allied FA Operations, Time on Target, terrain effects for ground combat, weapons effects on ground combat, exploitation after combat, etc.

Extensive research using the most modern sources available has assured an accurate and complete Order of Battle. Also included are optional random events that will provide additional challenges for those inclined. Scenarios will include the Campaign Game, 6th Panzer Army, 5th Panzer Army, 7th Army, Patton's Relief of Bastogne, and the Race to the Meuse.

Components:

• 5 full size maps
• 12 counter sheets
• 1 rules booklet
• 1 Scenario booklet
• At least 6 player aid cards
•  2 dice
  
  

Time Scale: 4 turns per day

Map Scale: 1 mile per hex

Ground Unit Scale: Battalion

Air Unit Scale: 25 aircraft per counter

Number of Players: 2 to 5

Famed Japanese designer Tetsuya Nakamura, who created A Victory Lost, Fire in the Sky, A Most Dangerous Time, and What Price Glory?, returns to the East Front with A Victory Awaits.

Using a lightly modified version of the A Victory Lost system, the game covers Operation Barbarossa from June 22 to mid-September. Game play features the same chit-pull mechanics used in AVL, with 10 one-week turns. Players can play either the full campaign game, or the Army Group North, Army Group Center, or Army Group South scenarios. Each of the scenarios plays on a single map, or play the full campaign game on all three maps!

This design was originally published as a series of three games in Japan: Fierce Fight! Leningrad Blitzkrieg, Fierce Fight! Smolensk Blitzkrieg, and Fierce Fight! Kiev Blitzkrieg. The game also includes rules for multiplayer (four to eight players) and a series of optional rules. The rules have been expertly translated into English, with detailed assistance from the designer.

On the wide steppes of the Soviet Union can you emerge victorious from the opening blows of the Russo-German war?

Components:

• Three maps 
• Three countersheets 
• 32 page full color rulebook 
• 2 player aid cards 
• 2 dice 
• box and lid

Solitaire Rating: Excellent

Complexity: Low

Playing Time: 3-15 hours

Scenarios: 4

Game scale: Units are divisions, 1 week turns.

4th Printing

First published by GMT in 2003, A World at War is a grand strategy game based on the award-winning Advanced Third Reich/Empire of the Rising Sun gaming system. A World at War simulates the military, economic, political, diplomatic, research, and production aspects of the Second World War and lets the players find out for themselves what might have happened if:

• Germany had tried to execute Sea Lion, the invasion of Britain.
• Admiral Raeder’s Mediterranean strategy had been adopted and the British position in the Middle East had crumbled.
• Russia had been prepared for the German attack.
• “General Winter” had not come to the aid of the hard-pressed Russian armies in late 1941.
• The European Axis and Japan had cooperated in implementing a strategy aimed at destroying the Western Allied lines of communication in the Indian Ocean.
• The Battle of the Atlantic had been won by Germany.
• War had broken out between Russia and Japan in 1941 or 1942.
• Japan had avoided disaster at Midway in 1942 and instead invaded Australia or India.
• Japan had knocked China out of the war.
• the U.S had mobilized more armor units and fewer air units, or more infantry and less armor, or...
• the Western Allies had tried Churchill's Balkan strategy
• the Western Allies had tried to invade France in 1943 or earlier, leaving Italy for later.
• the Western Allies had failed to develop the atomic bomb—but Germany had.
• the Western Allies had developed jets or rockets.
• YOU had been in command.

A World at War continued the evolution of the Advanced Third Reich/Empire of the Rising Sun game system, refining and clarifying the rules in every area of the game. Five years of design and relentless playtesting resulted in a polished, proven game, which includes the following innovations:

• Named ships, allowing players to sink (or lose!) the Bismarck, Yamato, New Jersey, and other famous ships
• Naval construction rules which allow major powers to build the navy they think will suit their strategic requirements
• Mobilization rules which allow major powers to tailor their army and air force pools to meet their needs—provided they anticipate them accurately
• Oil rules which force the Axis to worry about their inadequate oil reserves even when victory is within their grasp—although Britain and Russia can have cause for concern as well!
• Simplified diplomatic rules which allow minor countries to align themselves with various major powers
• More intuitive Combat Results and Attrition Tables
• Additional terrain on both the European and Pacific mapboards

The second edition of A World at War adds clarifications and refinements based on thousands of games played since 2003, based on contributions from hundreds of A World at War players (the A World at War Yahoo discussion list alone had recorded nearly 60,000 posts since A World at War was first published). Changes include:

• new counters for beach defenses, partial supply, and island group control
• revised counters based on feedback from A World at War players
• rules changes to mitigate the effects of bad luck, especially early in the game, leaving it to the players themselves to ruin their positions
• improved submarine warfare and strategic bombing rules
• more realistic raider and naval combat rules
• more realistic implementation of the “big three” high technology research projects: jets, advanced submarines, and rockets
• increased balance between the western, Mediterranean, and eastern fronts
• refined strategic balance in Russia, so that Russian survival is a challenge in most games—unless Germany doesn’t invade Russia at all...
• graduated economic growth rates and a link between Germany’s conquests and its construction rate, so that an Axis “Fortress Europe” strategy is as risky as any other
• modified atomic research rules which preclude ahistorically early atomic bombs, while still leaving open the possibility of a German bomb
• an enhanced Japanese Resistance Table, with Japan getting credit for expansion beyond its historical achievements

A World at War contains a dozen scenarios, ranging from the introductory Battle of the Atlantic and Barbarossa scenarios up to European and Pacific Campaign Games. But dedicated gamers will be hard-pressed to resist testing their luck, skill, and especially their nerves by taking on the entire war in the full-fledged Campaign Game.

Components:

• 2,800 Full-color Die-cut Counters
• Four 22" x 30" Full-color Mapsheets
• 12 Player Aid Cards
• One 196-page Rulebook
• One 72-page Status Sheet Booklet
• One 24-page Research and Diplomacy Booklet
• One 24-page Scenario Booklet
• Eight 6-sided Dice

Time scale: 3 months per turn

Map scale: 60 miles per hex (Europe); 100 miles per hex (Pacific)

Unit scale: Corps or Divisions, air wings and squadrons, individual ships and naval squadrons

Number of players: 1+

AGAINST THE IRON RING is an operational simulation portraying events in the Don River Basin area from November to December 1942, capturing a pivotal moment in history – often referred to as the turning point of the Second World War. This game marks the Soviet Red Army’s notable operational triumph over the Wehrmacht. Designed for two players, one commands the Soviet Red Army, while the other directs the German and Romanian forces. The game offers 3 distinct scenarios, each playable independently.

Each game turn spans three days. Scenarios 1 & 3 (Campaign) start on November 19th, 1942, Scenario 2 starts on December 10^th, 1942. Scenario 1 ends on November 27th, 1942. Scenario 2 & 3 end on December 24^th, 1942.

You can check out the game rules here.

Please note: The game does not include dice, even if stated on the packaging. Sorry!

4th Edition

December 16, 1944.....After a period of fog, rain, and snow blankets the area, three German armies unleash 26 divisions against thinly held American lines in the Ardennes forest of Belgium and Luxembourg. The objective of the Germans is to push through the Ardennes, then cross the Meuse River and head for Antwerp. Hitler hopes to split the Allied armies apart and smash their vital supply port at Antwerp. Can the Americans stop them?

Historically, the German army trampled the American VIII Corps and penetrated within two miles of the Meuse. The Americans stubbornly fought the Germans at many critical crossroads slowing and then stopping Germany's elite forces. Historically, the German offensive achieved little except to create a bulge in the American line.

Ardennes '44 explores this fascinating campaign with a detailed order of battle and an extremely accurate Ardennes game map which covers the area from the Our River to the Meuse. Ardennes '44 covers the period from December 16th to the 26th. Two shorter one-map scenarios are included which cover the initial stages of the German attack. The Ardennes '44 game system is designed by Mark Simonitch, winner of the CSR James F. Dunnigan Award for Design Elegance and Best WWII Board Game of 2000 for Ukraine '43.

The result is Ardennes '44, a game that both the Bulge enthusiast and the casual player will enjoy. German attacks follow historical advance routes, and the Bastogne and St. Vith defense perimeters are often as large as they were historically (instead of one big stack of units in the town itself). The Allied player has a chance at holding Elsenborn Ridge and making the Germans pay dearly for the twin villages of Rockerath and Krinkelt. Likewise, the German player has an equal chance of changing history and reaching the Meuse River.

Ardennes II is a Standard Combat Series reissuing of the award-winning game Ardennes from 1993 using the additional research available in the BCS game Last Blitzkrieg. Like its predecessor, it covers the German Wacht am Rhein offensive in December 1944 against the heretofore “quiet front” of the Ardennes Forest. 

Despite heavy losses on both the Western and Eastern Fronts, the German Army attempted to re-invigorate its offensive forces using drafts of the elderly, infirm, and very young.   The defending US forces were recovering from the dash across France and using the Ardennes area to give exhausted units a chance to refit and to give their new reinforcements some modest battle-zone experience.

The result went down in history as the Battle of the Bulge. 

Overcoming the initial surprise, the US forces put together a series of determined defenses, numerous timely bridge destructions, and the incredible power of their well-supplied artillery to stop the vaunted German Panzer troops nearly dead in their tracks.  

Ardennes II covers all this action in turns representing one day of combat and a hex scale of 1 mile per hex. Units are usually reinforced battalions (or smaller). The full campaign game lasts only 16 turns from 16 Dec to 31 Dec 44.

In addition to spotlighting the better OOB and map research first used in Last Blitzkrieg, the game differs from its predecessor by highlighting the unique nature of the artillery on both sides, correcting the original’s “Supply Wagon” supply system, as well as giving units the opportunity to withdraw before an enemy attack. It also cuts back on the amount of chrome rules which the player needed to wade through, and which exaggerated the effects of some marginal forces.

The game continues the SCS tradition of a very clean and easily played Sequence of Play, clear unit interactions, and straight-forward victory determination.  

This game is highly recommended for those interested in learning for the first time or teaching the fine hobby of wargaming to beginners.

Scenarios:

• Ardennes Campaign, 2 maps, 16 turns
• Breakthrough Campaign, 1 map, 6 turns
• KG Peiper, part of 1 map, 5 turns
• The Goose Egg, part of 1 map, 5 turns
• Bastogne: Screaming Eagles Under Siege, parts of 2 maps, 8 turns
• Tip of the Spear, 1 map, 4 turns

Components:

• SCS rulebook (Version 1.8) 
• Ardennes II game-specific rulebook
• two full-color 22" x 34" game maps
• 560 counters
• 6 scenarios (including four on a single map)
• box and dice

Atlantic Sentinels is a solitaire, tactical level game placing you as the Senior Officer of the Escort, shepherding a convoy in the North Atlantic from the attacks of U-boats, both singly and in wolfpacks. You are in command of a convoy escort group, composed typically of 4-10 escort vessels guarding a convoy on its way across the Atlantic.   Your mission is to protect as much Allied shipping as possible while simultaneously destroying as many U-boats as possible during the height of the U-boat threat – 1942 to early 1943.

Atlantic Sentinels provides players with a host of decisions as he is assigned to protect merchant convoys, typically ranging from 40 to 60 ships. The placement of escorts to offer front, rear, and flank protection to the convoy is complicated by the size of the convoy and available assets. Additional decisions must be made on where to place the escorts, which are equipped with Type 271 radars, the key to your defense.

As the game progresses, a player’s Escort Group may receive upgrades in the form of additional radars, HF/DF (High-Frequency Direction Finding) equipment, and possibly additional ships. Air support can be key, but until the CVE “jeep carriers” arrive, the “Black Pit” in the center of the Atlantic remains a high threat area.

Players will find it highly challenging to minimize convoy losses and keep them to an acceptable level.

Players may choose any of 10 historical Escort Groups (five British, four Canadian, one US) armed with historical destroyers and corvettes.

These ships include:

• B/C/D/E Classes DE
• F Class DE
• H Class DE
• V&W Class DE
• Town Class DE (American Lend Lease)
• River Class FF
• Flower Class Corvettes

Gameplay moves quickly, following a set sequence of events that are repeated until the end of the game. Once your initial Escort Group is set up, play proceeds by rolling for a convoy and escorting it across the Atlantic. Enemy forces range from single U-boats (typically a type VII, but possibly a Type IX) to entire wolfpacks. Wolfpacks increase in size (as they did historically) and will be your primary challenge. Encounters are randomly generated, ensuring no two careers will ever be the same. Weather can impact operations, as well as air support and crew upgrades due to experience. A logical but reasonably simple set of instructions bring the U-boats in to attack you from random directions, making your initial defensive array very important.

Of particular note is the game is designed to integrate with “The Hunters” if players wish to combine the games.

Atlantic Sentinels: North Atlantic Convoy Escorts 1942-43 is meant to be a highly playable and interesting solitaire game covering the actions an Escort Group would have to deal with in fighting the U-boat peril during convoy escort.

Product Information:

• Complexity: 4 out of 10
• Solitaire Suitability: 10 out of 10 (solitaire game design)
• Time Scale: Semi-abstract (Convoy escort missions, 2 per month)
• Map Scale: Abstract
• Unit Scale: Individual escorts, U-boats, merchant ships (when targeted)
• Players: One (with option for two)
• Playing Time: 15 to 20 minutes (single mission), 6-8 hours (full career)

Autumn For Barbarossa (AfB) is a Standard Combat Series (SCS) game originally published in Special Ops magazine #7 (2017), covering the struggle to seize Smolensk in the late summer of 1941 marking the end of the initial period of Operation BARBAROSSA and the front’s stabilization until the last effort to take Moscow in Operation TYPHOON that fall.

This re-issue is the same as the original edition, except that the counters have been enlarged to 5/8" for easier handling (and the map expanded to fit them) and known errata has been fixed.

Autumn For Barbarossa features a small map area and limited units, making it easily accessible for fast or competition play. The entire campaign takes 10 turns.

Play begins with the German offensive in full bloom. The German player attempts to rapidly seize as much of the map (in the form of Victory Point locations) as he can. Speed is essential; while he has several cities to reduce, he knows the clock is ticking before Hitler pulls the plug on his efforts. The commanders did not realize this was in the cards, but for design purposes we assume the player feels the pistol pointed at his head. The Germans have copious air and mechanized forces to accomplish their goals...for the moment. At some point determined by the "Hitler Roll," the German mechanized forces are taken off the map and air support cut in half.

The Soviet player stalls, withdraws, and conserves his forces while letting the German offensive expend itself. As the high tide passes, he prepares his rebuilt Red Army for the second half of the game: The Soviet effort to force back the German and recoup their losses as best they can.

Game Scale:
Game Turn: 6 days
Hex: 7 miles/11.2 kilometers
Units: Regiment to Division
Solitaire Playability: High
Complexity Level: Medium
Players: 2 or more
Playing Time: 3-6 hours

Components:
• One v1.8 SCS Series rulebook
• One AfB specific rulebook)
• two x full-color 18" x 22" maps
• 352 counters (5/8")

* Players must provide two 6-sided dice

** This is not a boxed game.  

We are happy to present the long-awaited second edition of this fascinating game. It stands as the first in its series to benefit from a full system overhaul. We have rewritten all first edition game rules for clarity and simplification and then reorganized it for readability. Some old rules details were dropped, others added. We then thoroughly reviewed the orders of battle in light of considerable information that has come to light in the years since the first edition was published. Likewise, the charts and tables have benefitted from some small adjustments. Overall, the whole game system is greatly improved for your enjoyment.

Historical Setting

June 1941 -- Army Group Center hurls itself through the Soviet border defenses, and its two Panzer groups race headlong toward Minsk. Behind them lie the remnants of the Soviet Western Front -- almost a million men in four armies. The Soviets are stunned by the German Blitzkrieg. Their responses are slow, confused, and governed by pre-war contingency plans made obsolete by the speed of the German advance. In little more than a week, the German panzer spearheads meet east of Minsk. Though isolated units continue to fight, the entire Soviet Western Front has ceased to exist!

The Germans' next target is Smolensk, but the Soviets resist more effectively. Entire armies are dispatched from other parts of the Soviet Union as the true scope of the Minsk pocket disaster and the magnitude of the German threat become known. Soviet counterattacks, especially around Lepel, are thrown back with horrific losses. Once again the Panzer Groups charge eastward, creating yet another huge Soviet pocket west of Smolensk. The Soviets resist savagely. Smolensk falls on July 13th, but the pocket does not close. Many Soviet units escape to fight another day.

Hitler now makes a fateful decision and overrides his generals. Over half of Army Group Center's armored and air formations are diverted south to take Kiev or north to isolate Leningrad. No longer under heavy pressure, the Soviets gain time to form solid fronts around Vyazma and Bryansk. Did Hitler's decision cost the Germans the war? Play Barbarossa: Army Group Center and find out for yourself.

On June 22^nd, 1941, Army Group North, the smallest of the three German army groups, drives forward into the Baltic states. Its objective is Leningrad. Once the crown jewel of Czarist Russia, Leningrad is now the second most important city in the Soviet Union. Its array of ordnance factories includes the massive Kirov Tank Works that turns out most of the heavy KV-1 and KV-2 production for the Soviet Army. Loss of Leningrad would deprive the Soviets of a major population and industrial center and give the Germans the advantage of position in any drive against Moscow from the northwest.

Army Group North, short of Luftwaffe support and motorized forces, is the only army group that fails to achieve a significant encirclement at any stage of its campaign. Skillfully utilizing terrain and ruthlessly exploiting the civilian population, the Soviets construct a fortified line along the Luga River that stalls the Germans for a month until massive Luftwaffe and motorized reinforcements from Army Group Center allow a decisive breakthrough and dash for Leningrad itself. In a furious September battle, the Germans fall just short of taking Leningrad when time runs out. Operation Typhoon, the final push against Moscow, is imminent. Army Group North must give up almost all of its Luftwaffe and motorized formations. With no strike force remaining, the Germans dig in. Leningrad survives capture only to endure a brutal, epic 900 day siege.

Can you, as the Axis commander, succeed where German High Command failed? As the Soviet commander, can you repeat history and halt the Axis invaders short of Leningrad?

Game Features

• Four 22" x 34" color Maps B, C, L, and W plus full sheet devoted to the Leningrad inset map
• One 17" x 34" color Map A (front and back printed). Double-sided Scenario Map Cards for a number of the smaller scenarios plus Rulebook, Playbook, Naval Rulebook, and several charts with game and scenario information
• Eight scenarios (plus the learning scenario) allow players to vary their level of involvement, complexity, and starting point (from introductory to full campaign)
• An asymmetrical sequence of play which highlights Axis armored breakthroughs and Soviet difficulties in combined arms warfare, detailed air rules which integrate with land combat, and weather rules
• Incredibly detailed Order of Battle, including artillery, rocket artillery, engineers, bridge units, armored trains, and much more
• Modifications to the proven East Front Barbarossa system including the revised Naval rules
• Extensive bibliography and design/historical notes

Time scale: 2 days per turn

Map scale: 5 miles per hex

Ground unit scale: Division/Regiment

Air unit scale: 40-80 aircraft per counter

Players: 1-4