The Gamer's Guide to Third Reich (1985)

Overview

The Gamer's Guide to Third Reich followed the guides to Panzerblitz and Midway. In many ways this guide became a showcase for Marcus Watney. The guide does the best when it deviates to other writers, mostly when the dogma of rehistorizing is abandoned. There were fewer variants and tools in this publication than its predecessors, but there were a couple of redeeming points. There is also a small reference map on the back.

This is entered into the database not as a strategy guide, but as an expansion/variant of Third Reich based on the alternate play content contained in the guide.

Included in the guide are:

Record Keeping in Third Reich. This is a BPR record keeping sheet covering one year of play. While superseded by spreadsheets and laptops, it is a useful tool for those players who prefer a more “retro“ style.

Grand Strategy in Third Reich: An Introduction to The Avalon Hill Game Company's Most Popular Strategic Game. An unabashedly biased introduction to the mechanisms and interactions of the game. Probably based on the second edition.

The Fuehrer's War: German Play in the Third Edition. Game play considerations and notes for the main actor on the stage (after all, no Nazis-no game right?). Largely assumes German strategy follows the historical narrative.

A Green and Pleasant Land: Sealion versus Cromwell. When Hitler's armies reached the coast of France, his war was won. Churchill, history and Third Reich don't see it that way. This article examines crossing the channel and removing the West Front problem.

The Unsolved Problem: In Defense of France. Experienced players know that the longer France survives, the shorter Germany's life is going to be. Defensive options and workable counter attack strategies are the topic here.

The Long Road from Rome: An Italian Strategy. Kesselring said, "the Italian is not a soldier at heart." This article examines Italy as more of a threat than a power. Italian adventuring in the Mediterranean is discussed

Soviet Options: Russian Play in Third Reich. Mostly a Russian survival guide, sometimes a German guide.

BRP Warfare: The Clash of Economies. An odd article for those players with a leaning towards mafioso investment banking. Some good nuggets, mostly because it deviates from the replay history theme.

Diplomacy in Third Reich: Another Facet of the Strategic Game. More than anything else, this makes the guide worth reading. This variant is based on minor country interaction from Origins of WWII. It removes the rather rigid minor country rules from the game and installs a competitive foreign aid-diplomacy system, with situational and event driven modifiers. One might think of it like the Vichy activation rule applied to everyone.

Advanced Tactics: The Tricks of the Trade. Nuance is the word here. Since Third Reich is a game, Marcus Watney talks about the gamey side of the game. Some things were built in, others were accidents.