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Chapter Four.  Blitzkrieg & Second Success Action

Because the Axis won its first Action, it gains a Second Success Bonus Action.  The Axis choice to take the Production Center Bonus Event Action put that Success Action in jeopardy, as had the Axis failed in the Production Center Bonus Event his turn would have ended.  The Axis was successful, however, and thus play continues to its Success Bonus Action OR choose to immediately launch a Blitzkrieg Attack from newly captured Leningrad.

This is an important game decision, since by making an immediate Blitzkrieg Attack the Axis Player may continue using the Manstein, Stukas and Waffen SS Events.  Otherwise, those three Event cards would be “flipped over” and not available until the next Axis turn.

The selected Action is to Blitz Attack Novgorod from Leningrad. In a Blitzkrieg, the active Player may continue Attacking.  The Attack must come from the area he just won.

In launching a Blitzkrieg the player lowers his Hand Size by one, and thus lowers his marker on the Hand Size Track by one.

-The Axis player lowers his hand size by one and announces he will again use Manstein, Stukas and Waffen SS.  He did not have to use all of them and could have added another Event (Tiger Tanks would have been nice… but the Axis Player does not have that powerful Event available.)

-The Allies elect not to use an Event.

• Both sides start with three dice.
• The Axis will gain a fourth die as they have Waffen SS.

Each side plays a card face down and reveals the card.

Suffice that after dice are rolled and modified (for Stukas and Manstein and any re-rolls allowed by a Special Properties card) the result is an Axis victory.

The Axis places a Control Marker in Novgorod.

The Axis won and thus retain the Manstein, Stuka and Waffen SS Events.

The Allies draw a card to replace the one they used to defend Novgorod.  The Axis draws a card to replenish his now reduced in size hand.  A “Blitz #1” Reminder Yellow colored cube is placed in Novgorod.

The Axis declares a second Blitzkrieg Attack from Novgorod on Moscow.  The Axis Hand is reduced by another card… the Track Marker is appropriately adjusted with a second Reminder Yellow colored cube placed in Moscow.  “This could be costly” muses the Axis Player, but the risk seems worth it.

The Axis declares he will again use Manstein, Stukas Waffen SS AND the Desperate Gamble Event, which allows him to play TWO Cards, one of his choice and another taken from the top of the Axis card deck in the upcoming combat.  Using the Desperate Gamble Event reduces the Axis Hand by one.  The Track Marker is again reduced (that’s a three Card “hit” for the current “Blitz” offensive… two for “Blitz Attacks” and the third for use of Desperate Gamble).

It should be noted the Allies have the Counterattack Event.  What this Event means is that if the Allies are victorious, there’s no need to play Counterattack and the Allied Player retains the Event for possible later use (since it wasn’t used for any dice rerolling).

 

If the enemy is victorious, however, the Player has the option of an immediate die/dice reroll; a second chance for victory.  If the Counterattack is used by the Allies for one or more die rerolling, whether victorious or not, this (R) card is returned to the Event Deck/Array for possible reacquisition.

Both sides choose a Card and Play it face down.  The Axis, having the Desperate Gamble Event, plays a Second Card from his deck, face down as well.

• Each side has three dice as normal.
• The Axis gains a fourth die for Waffen SS.
• The Allies gain a fourth die due to defending a Capital: Moscow

The Allies play a Red Star card worth 8 (they must play a Red Star card if they have any, as this is a Soviet area: a shame, laments the Allied Player who is looking at a Blue Star 10 in his hand, the best card remaining to him).  Although they expect to lose, it is the only Red Star card in the Allied hand and thus must be played. The Axis plays a Fascist Symbol Admiral and selects a German Cross 5 from the deck as his Desperate Gamble card draw.  “Rats!”… “I could have chosen a card better than a lousy five!” laments the Axis player”.

Cards are revealed, dice are rolled, dice are changed and re-rolled as per Special Ability cards and Events…..the Axis total is higher, not surprisingly, as its two cards (an Admiral worth 11 and an 5) give it the win… but not by all that much due to abysmally poor Axis dice rolling which even with Manstein resulted in a 1,1,2,4 for a total of 23.

The Axis Player is aghast that he rolled so poorly and glares threateningly at the dice.

Chapter Five. COUNTERATTACK

The Allies expected to lose but hope such poor Axis dice rolling will allow the Counterattack Event to save the day.

The Allies reroll their dice, to a maximum of four dice, and the result is……

a. Possible Result One – Allied Victory

If the Allies win, they retain control of Moscow. The Counterattack Event, having been played, is returned to the Axis and Allied Event Deck/Array.

The Axis, having lost, must eliminate ALL of the Events played:  Manstein, Stukas and Waffen SS are returned to the Axis Event Deck/Array.  Desperate Gamble is always returned to the Axis Event Deck/Array after any use.

The play of Desperate Gamble ALSO lowers the Axis Hand Size by one; move the Axis marker one space lower on the Hand Size Track.

Both sides now Replenish.  Their card hands are adjusted to correspond to their respective markers on the Hand Size Track.

The Allies thus draw a card to replace the one they used in the battle for Moscow.

The Axis, also draws one card – but only one card, as it has “burned up” its Hand Size through Blitzkrieg and Desperate Gamble.  For the turn thus far, the Axis Hand Size is reduced by three: two for the Blitz Attacks and one for Desperate Gamble.

b. Possible Result Two – Axis Victory

If the Allied Counterattack Event play failed and the Axis won, the result would be:

The Axis Hand Size, already reduced by declaration of a second Blitzkrieg Attack would

still be reduced by one for the Desperate Gamble.

The Allied Hand Size would be reduced by TWO:  Moscow is not merely a Production Center (with a Star) but a Capital – and the “2” inside the Star means TWO  Cards, Red Starred ones if available, are discarded instead of the usual ONE.   This will lower the Allied Hand Size by TWO.  This is quite the disaster coming on the heels of Leningrad’s loss… the Allied Hand is now down 3 Cards from what they began the Axis turn with.

The Axis having taken a Star gains a Bonus Event Action – thus it can resolve an Event Action and try to win an Event card; if it fails, its turn is over.   If successful, however, the Axis may continue with its Blitzkrieg – to a maximum of three Blitzkrieg attacks being made during a turn, which means the Axis, having taken Moscow on its second Blitz, could use a third to seize the Steppes, and if successful, threaten Stalingrad and the Caucasus.    Each Blitzkrieg Attack would reduce the Axis Hand Size by one.

A string of victorious attacks and Blitzkriegs could potentially bring the game to an end by reducing the Allied Hand to zero, or set the stage for victory during the next Axis turn through capturing the remaining four Soviet Production Centers for an automatic victory win through the conquest of Russia (all six Soviet Productions Center Axis-occupied)..

Chapter Six.  Success Action – Example of Naval Combat

Let’s presume the Axis was successful capturing Moscow in the preceding example.   This would entitle the Axis Player to take that Second Success Action which was deferred by the dramatic offensive from Finland which captured Leningrad and then went on to Blitzkrieg capture Novgorod and Moscow.

The Axis could have made a 3^rd Blitzkrieg Attack from newly captured Moscow; but “enough is enough” thinks the Axis Player who is quite content with triumphs gained thus far during the turn and unwilling to again reduce his hand size with another Blitzkrieg nor risk losing the turn’s momentum by hazarding failure with the Bonus Event Action provided by his capture of the Moscow Production Center (accepting a Production Center Event Action is always optional).

So, he turns his attention to the seas and from bashing the Soviets in Russia to hopefully inflicting some pain on the Western Allies.

The Axis wishes to take control of the North Sea and with it the Production Center Star located therein.

On his previous turn the Axis placed a Fleet Modification Marker in the North Sea.  The Allies could have done so as well but did not place a Fleet Modification Marker on their turn.  (Placing it ends a turn, and the Allies wanted to contest an event or make an attack.)

The Axis will use the Bismarck Event.

In response, the Allies declare they will use the Fleet Carriers AND Air Supremacy Events. The Air Supremacy Event could have been used in the East, but the Allied Player chose to keep it in reserve to defend the West, which now seems a prudent course of action.

Each side chooses a Card and places it face down.

Both sides reveal their cards.

Both sides have three dice as usual.  Neither side gains a die for solely controlling a Land Area abutting the North Sea (the Allies have London and Scotland while the Axis controls Norway).

-The Axis gains a fourth die for the Fleet Modification Marker.

-The Allies gain a fourth die for the Air Supremacy Event

– The Allies gain a fifth die as that is a property of the Fleet Carriers Event.

-The Axis plays a German Cross Supreme Commander the Allies that Blue Star

10, which is still the best card remaining in their ever diminishing Hand.

-The Axis rolls its four dice:  2-4-5-6

-The Bismarck Event allows the Axis to change one die to a “5”; it does so with

the “2” – its roll is now:  5-4-5-6.  This is such a fine result that the Axis Player

chooses not to reroll any of the 3 dice the Supreme Commander entitles him to.

-The Allies roll their five dice:  3-3-4-5-6

-The Axis dice (5-4-5-6) totals 20; the Supreme Commander is worth 13, for a

total of 33.

-The Allied dice (3-3-4-5-6) totals 21; the Blue Star 10 is worth 10, totaling 31.

-Victory to the Axis.

Consequences of Victory:

– The Allies lost, and thus lose Fleet Carriers, which is returned to the Allied Event Deck/Array for potential future acquisition.  The Air Supremacy Event is also returned to the Allied-Axis Event Deck/Array (which would have been the case whether the Allies won or lost since it is an “R”, “Returnable”, Event).

-  The Axis retain the Bismarck, as it is marked with a *, which allows it to be retained if victorious.  It is flipped over to indicate being unavailable until the beginning of the next Axis Turn.

• Both sides must eliminate their Fleet Modification Markers. (These should be thought of not as physical Fleets, but “Naval Operations Efforts” sufficient to possibly influence a nautical conflict’s outcome.)

-  The North Sea is a Star.  The Allied Hand Size is reduced by one and the Marker is lowered by one on the Hand Size Track. This is the fourth reduction in Hand Size of what’s proven to be a harsh Allied turn.

-  The Allies must discard one Card of their choice for losing the Star.

– Both sides now Replenish their hand, each drawing a card to replace the one used in the Sea Conflict.

-  The Axis won a Production Center Star, and thus may take a Production Center Capture Event Action (see Chapter Two, the previous description of this as an example of such an action).

This concludes the Axis Second Action, their turn, and this extended example of play.

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To read Part 1 of this extended example of play, go here.