Introduction: If this is the first InsideGMT piece you’re reading regarding the Hitler’s Reich game, you’re urged to reference other material within this site for additional background regarding this exciting and fun forthcoming GMT offering.

What you have here (in two successive InsideGMT articles) are Designer Mark McLaughlin’s After Action Reports for two games of Hitler’s Reich with a new player during March 2016… one game resulting in an Allied victory and another in an Axis victory.

Game One: March 5, 2016 (2.5 hours to play)

Hitler’s Reich Playtest Map

Intrigued by the gorgeous new Charlie Kibler map-in-progress and sample card art for Hitler’s Reich which he saw on the GMT Blog and Consimworld; my friend Max decided the time had come to try this game.  A veteran board wargamer, Max swiftly picked up on the system after I provided him a quick 10-minute overview, and then, without ever needing to look at the rules or a player aid card again, we got into a hard fought exciting game of Hitler’s Reich and finished that game in just under two and a half hours.

At my suggestion Max took the Axis:  it is a more forgiving side for a newcomer to play, for while the Axis can win the game in the first year or two of play, it is unlikely they’ll lose the contest that early, as it can weather a storm of bad cards and worse dice.  The Allies are in just the opposite situation:  they can but are unlikely to win by an early knockout, yet can lose the game during the first year or two, as they have far less of a cushion to fall back into should things go wrong.

The game starts in the spring of 1941, with the Nazi-Soviet Pact in effect.  That means the Axis can, but does not need to invade Russia, and can concentrate attacking the British and building up their strength in terms of hand size (production) and power (event cards).  Max took that road and delayed his Operation Barbarossa invasion of the Soviet Union, but although the Germans overran the Balkans and Rommel and his Panzers reached the gates of Egypt, they got no further: for Montgomery was ready for them.  The Axis was stopped dead at Suez and unable to make any progress in the North Atlantic. Max finally turned East to invade Russia at the every end of the year, just as the leaves were turning to their Fall colors.  His Operation Barbarossa was a qualified success, winning three out four attacks…but then came 1942.

That year was a tough one for the Axis.  Although Max took Kharkov, the Russians kept taking it back.  That key Production Center city changed hands four times in 1942, and served as the springboard for a Soviet blitz into Romania.  German efforts to bring Franco into the war failed (you have to win a conflict resolution to win that Event Card), as did many attempts to gain important combat cards.  Poor Max seemed snake bit with his dice rolling.  The Axis just could not make any headway, and thanks to Convoys getting through along with wins of War Production Events, the Allies were actually ahead in card hand size over their Axis opponent at the end of the year.

Max, however, was not ready to give up; 1943 began as his come-back year.  The Germans took back Romania, roared into Russia to once again take Kharkov – and Leningrad as well, despite the play of many strong combat events by the Soviets.  Iraq revolted and joined the Axis.  Jet Fighters zoomed off the production line.  The Bismarck went to sea.  Rommel, Guderian, Von Manstein, the Waffen SS and the Stukas were all in play for the Axis….and then the Eighth Air Force struck.

Wave after wave of strategic bombers escorted by Mustangs pummeled the Axis, knocking down their production (each such successfully won event costs the Axis a card and reduces their hand size by one).  Max just could not find the cards and dice to stop them. Then the Russians with their T-34s and Allied Artillery and Partisans took back Kharkov…and Leningrad.  Vichy then defected.  After a hard fought Mediterranean struggle, Sicily fell to the Western Allies.  Iraq was brought back into the British Empire. The 1943 year ended with the Axis on the defensive – and with a hand size of only four cards (vice nine for the Allies).

Still, Max fought on.  Although an Axis knockout blow was no longer probable, if he could hold on through 1944 and 1945, denying the Allies Berlin, he could still win a survival victory.  Alas, the bombers came back, and the Allies dove across the Strait of Messina into Naples, triggering the Italian Surrender (Rome automatically falls to the Allies).

As 1945 dawned, the Axis hand size was down to a single card (versus nine for the Allies) and the writing was on the wall; two-and-one-half hours into the game Max conceded….but he will have his opportunity for revenge, and soon, the next time we play Hitler’s Reich.  (We’ll detail that match in our next InsideGMT article.)

Articles in this Series: Part 1  Part 2

Author: Fred Schachter