Red Storm over the Reich: The Last Days of the Third Reich (2007)

Overview

(from Compass Games website):

Red Storm Over the Reich is a Ted Raicer game covering the epic final campaigns of WWII on the Eastern Front, as the forces of the Soviet Union smashed the German armies defending Poland, East Prussia, and Pomerania, and advanced across the Oder to Berlin. Included in the game are three scenarios.

The first scenario is historical, which finds the German forces out of position. Their armies will likely be shattered on the first turn, but the victory conditions are tough on the Soviets– they must do at least as well as historically.

Scenario two has the historic forces, but allows the Germans to implement Operation Sleigh-ride, a sane pull-back of the main defense line along the Vistula out of range of the opening Russian barrage (an operation historically nixed by Hitler) that at least allows for a more orderly flight.

Scenario three combines Sleigh-ride with reinforcements from other fronts. It assumes that Hitler has had an incapacitating stroke in late November or early December, and the new Nazi leadership is sufficiently uncertain of its position that it defers in military matters to Guderian. The Ardennes Offensive is cancelled, as are the attempts to relieve Budapest, as well as substantial forces are evacuated from the Courland pocket. This increases German strength on the main eastern front by approximately 50% and doubles German tank strength, which, when combined with Sleigh-ride gives the Germans some serious fighting strength. Scenarios one and two can be completed in 8-12 hours and scenario three in 12-16 hours, depending on your individual playing style.

Red Storm is the opposite of 1941 East Front Games: The Soviets have assembled a massive force and will rip gaping holes in the German lines through blitzkrieg-style attacks. The German player must somehow piece together a desperate defense only to have it repeatedly blown apart by the enemy. But time is the enemy of both players in this game. The Soviets need to accomplish their victory by the end of the last turn, satisfying the historical timeline, or they lose the game, and the Germans must delay the Soviet assault on Berlin long enough to prevent the Soviet win.

The rules for Red Storm Over the Reich are moderate in complexity but feature enough chrome for both sides to recreate this desperate campaign. Special rules include: the creation of Kampfgruppe divisions (or not), naval evacuations, panzerfausts, Volksturm divisions, Leaders, Soviet Logistical Constraint, Hitler mandated attacks and more!

Included with each game are two maps each 22” by 34”, two sheets of counters (456 total), rules, set-up charts, tables, dice and game box.