World War II Using The War Game Turn 1

A Headless Body Production
Venue: An undisclosed basement
Players: Phil Gardocki running both Axis and Allies.
Game System: The War Game, World War II.

The War Game,World War II, was originally published by Jeffery Stein in 1997.

This version will be using the rules as updated in 2015.  See here for the pdf.

While perusing the flea market at Lee Con, see my Ancients battle reports, I noticed a large box titled "The War Game, World War II". It seemed to be independently produced way back when. The game has an Axis and Allies (hereafter referred to as A&A) feel to it. There was some difficulty opening the box, as it weighed about 50 pounds. The figures were still unpunched. The previous owner had downloaded all the updates, and other documentation that I have yet to work out adding about 10 pounds to the weight of the box. But never played the game! The map board, was 3' 2" tall and 6' 6" wide. Which will barely fit my 4x8 gaming table.

Basement provided to offer scale.

This would be a great game for our gaming group. We all have played A&A which is on a significantly smaller board, and Europe tends to be very crowded with overflowing figures. The War Game,World War II, offers an impressive view while waiting your turn. With images of the mandatory scene in every WWII movie with military personnel viewing their battle boards, moving the elements with croupier sticks.

The game plays a lot like A&A. But with more nuances. Pretty much the economic system is 2 times the cash, 2 times the cost. But the units have a +/- a dollar or two depending on the nation. China, Russia and Germany pay less for infantry, the US pays less for high production cost items, like ships and aircraft.

Another nuance is the during the battle phase. An attacker can pause a battle, and then start another one, see the results, then continue the original. At first I thought that was a gamey and needless complication. But I thought about the German attack on Kursk. Part of the decision tree to call of that offensive had to do with the Allied invasion of Sicily. I'll still think about it.

But at least one of us will need to be a "subject matter expert". So I read through the rules, then punched out the figures, shaving down the significant flash, set up the game, then read the 2015 rules. And two days later, I was ready to play this game solitaire.

It took about 4 hours to play the first turn. Too be fair, I was re-reading all the rules as needed, and running all 7 countries.

Deployment:

I was cutting out the units, and deploying, and so had time to think about what shape the first turn would take. The first nation punched was Japan.

White chips represent additional forces. So a unit with an infantry figure and 2 chips represents 3 units.

Red chips represent 5 units.

The Japanese setup looks weak in Asia. The Chinese in Peking have 8 infantry, + one Commonwealth, and no, I don't know what that is about, a fighter and an artillery. The most the Japanese has in any area is 3 infantry in Asia.

Throughout the Pacific, the Japanese has littered the board with destroyers, transports, submarines, and single infantry units. In the Marshal islands is a concentration representing the Kido Butai, 2 carrier units representing the 6 Japanese fleet carriers, with 4 fighters on deck, a battleship, and a few destroyers and subs. In Pearl are two US battleships, one damaged, an aircraft carrier, a couple of fighters and land units.

So here is the plan. The Japanese are clearly deployed to make a second raid on Pearl Harbor. They will get hurt, but if they take out all but one major naval combatant of the US in the Pacific, they will buy themselves time to conquer China. I mentioned that the Japanese army seems weak in China, but there are transports all over the place, and they can actually focus a significant force on Peking. Taking that will significantly reduce Chinese production, add to their own. The production system will allow the Japanese to produce many infantry, about 10, on the mainland for the followup attacks.

I love games about the Pacific. But for now we have to leave those emerald waters, and head over for the main event, Europe. Frankly, the game is truly won or lost in Europe.

More space than A&A, but still crowded in Germany and the UK.

Each turn represents 6 months of the war, and the first turn is Jan-June, 1942. Looking at the board, the Germans are clearly set up to attack the Caucuses. The Russians cannot stop them, but they also have 12 infantry plus supporting units in Moscow. They can easily recapture the Caucuses, destroying the main German forces in Russia. In other words, "It's a trap!"

In Africa, Rommel's Africa Korps seems to be mostly Italian, and have parity with the Commonwealth forces in Egypt.

Arrayed against the UK, the Germans have 6 submarines, a battleship against a pair of battleships and a carrier. UK Destroyers are scattered around the Atlantic as well, supported by significant air assets in England.

In North America, the US has some pretty good assets, and the Canadians have significant factories.

About production. infantry can be built anywhere. The number of units is equal to the production value listed. Except conquered provinces, which it is halved, round down, and an upper limit of 4.

In Quebec, the production value is 5, so in theory, you can build 5 infantry units in Quebec. But they cost 6 dollars each, so money would be the limiting factor.

There are two levels of factories. The minor one, like in Quebec, allows the nation to build 2 additional units, not infantry, of any type, except carriers, battleships or bombers. This is in addition to the 5 infantry that Quebec is allowed. Ontario, and throughout the US are Major factories. They can be used to produce units of any type, except infantry, with numbers up to the production level of the province. So Ontario, cash willing, could produce 6 transports, or 3 fighters and 3 tanks, etc...

Production, Blah, Blah, Blah, get on with the game...

The full map deployed. I uploaded this as a full size image, and so you should be able to blow it up for more detail.

The turn sequence has a fixed order. The Germans and Italians move together as one, and move first.

The Germans decide that while it is a trap, they have no choice but to surge forward, but instead of into the Caucuses, they would focus their firepower on Leningrad. Leningrad has a factory, and is worth slightly more than the Caucuses. The ability to attack Leningrad at all is based on units from Finland, air from everywhere, amphibious assault from Germany and Prussia, which allows their battleship and destroyer to provide shore bombardment on round 1. Even though the Germans expect to be kicked out by the Russians, they still have a sizable force in the Ukraine to punch on the next turn. As long as Germany can avoid significant losses in the west, they can win an attrition war against Russia.

Like A&A, combat is taken to the Battle Board.

This is the initial force setup for the Leningrad operation. There are 8 Soviet infantry units for a total of 10 units. The Germans have brought in 7 Infantry, 4 Aircraft and an artillery.

Then you add in von Manstein, on the far right, and shift over the land units by 1 to the higher count..

In addition, there is a combined arms rule. For every tank unit in the battle, the ATTACKERS can shift 2 infantry one to the left.

Combat is resolved with 12 sided dice. Match or equal your number on the battle board scores a hit, or removal of one enemy unit.

For Amphibious operations, the Battleship and the Destroyer, get a before battle shot of 8 and 5. Damage from these shots count first, and destroyed units do not get a replying shot.

The Bomber is also a very powerful unit, and rolls twice, looking for 8's

The Leningrad operation went bloodier than expected. The Germans are left with a tank, an artillery, 2 infantry and their general, von Manstein. Every country gets 1 and only 1 General. Who adds +1 to all land units fighting. But if his forces are destroyed, he is captured and gone for the game.

Adding him made the German assault too successful. They literally destroyed the entire Leningrad garrison in 1 combat round. Which means two things:

1) They capture the factory intact. Yeah!

2) The General has to stay in the territory he just captured. Ut Oh! The plan was for him to retreat on round 2 and be safe somewhere else.

Picture taken after the battle.

In the Mediterranean, the British seem to have vacated their fleet. So the Italians and Germans are able to do an Amphibious assault on Egypt without worry of an interception. Linking up with their ground forces attacking from Libya.

In the Med, the Italians, lead by Giuseppe Garibaldi, and supported by a couple of panzer divisions sea lifted in, bounce on Egypt.

The Commonwealth forces are clearly overmatched.

And the dice were not friendly to the UK. The Axis forces lost only one infantry in the exchange.

An overwhelming victory for the Italians.

At sea, the Axis powers assemble a pair of wolf packs of submarines. Sinking a British destroyer near Gibraltar, and an UK sub in the North Sea.

After the Axis and USSR turns, there is a stand off between German and Soviet forces in the south of Russia.

Another nuance in this game is railroad movement. A unit can move an unlimited distance by rail. The capacity of the rail lines is the provinces industrial capacity. 1/2, round down for captured provinces. So the units that started in Germany, 3 tank and 6 infantry, can be moved to the front. Subject to limits like Poland which can only allow 2 through as it was captured. And Belarus, above with 7, down to 3.

So we have competed the German, Italian and Russian turns.

Onto the UK/French turn.

Yes, France is still in the game, and has pretty good production for a conquered country with all of it's colonies. I think that with lend lease, they were able to recruit 3 infantry units.

England is well defended with infantry and air units. And so can focus on the German UBoat problem.

The Royal Navy, with the help of air assets based in England, has attacked has sunk 3 UBoats operating in the Iceland sea zone. Then followed up with builds of infantry all around the empire. And a factory in India.

On to the Pacific.

This is the start of the Japanese turn. Their army scattered around the Pacific rim, but a pair of useful transports available to focus their army.

Transports move 3, can pick up anywhere on their path, but must stop at their drop off points. Each transport can carry 2 infantry or 1 tank or 1 artillery.

Fighters can travel 4 sea zones or provinces. Bombers can travel 6. Neither can land in a newly conquered province, and there are no Kamakazi's allowed.

 

General Yasuji Okamura assembled an impressive army. Pulling troops from Korea, Manchuria, Mongolia, Shanghai and reinforced by 4 infantry by sea, supported by air and tank assets.

On the battle board. The Japanese have 7 against 9 Chinese infantry. But overall, 15-11 in units. Also, General Okamura's effects have not yet been applied to the board. Moving all the Japanese infantry to 3, tanks to 9. Then combined arms effects, putting 4 Japanese infantry on the 4 chart.

After the first round of combat, Chinese AA and Fighters shoot down 2 Japanese fighters. But they Japanese army lose only 2 infantry otherwise.

The Chinese were then obliterated on the second round of combat, causing no further damage. Worse for the Chinese, the Japanese selected 10 infantry as to recruit, and was able to put 3 in Shanghai, with returning aircraft, and 1 in Mongolia. Giving them a 2-1 advantage in numbers in China, and better than that in quality of forces.

Nagumo launches another raid on Pearl Harbor

There are no Admirals in this game, so the forces involved are unadjusted.

Battleships and Subs get a "preemptive" shot on the first round. Meaning they shoot, and hits removed from the battle without shooting back. Submarines also have this ability as attackers.

In the preemptive round, The Japanese get 3 rolls. One for their battleship on the 8 chart, 2 for their subs on the 4 chart. The Americans get two rolls on the 8 chart with their battleship.

The Americans lose two destroyers and an aircraft. The Japanese lose only a submarine.

At the end of the round, the Americans scored zero further hits, losing everything but their battleships and carrier.

 This leaves only the Enterprise carrier group in the south east Pacific.

Going into round 2.

With a series of abysmal rolls by the Americans. Nagumo's Kido Butai is unscathed.

Going into these battles, the defense has an option to retreat. Which means the attacker will get unanswered shots, but the surviving defenders get away. I did not elect to do this on the hope of causing more damage. For the Russians, Brits and Chinese, this would not have made a wit of difference, as they pretty much were wiped out on the first round. But if the Americans had, they would have saved a carrier and 2 battleships.

The Americans and the Chinese move last in the game.

America adopts a "German First" policy, and focuses it's remaining naval assets into the Atlantic. Their only carrier to unite with 12 newly constructed warships, 6 subs, 6 destroyers, and their last battleship.

You could say they just abandoned the Pacific, but that is for the historians to decide, sometime in the future.

In summary.  

The war in Russia is going back and forth.  With both sides heavily reinforcing their forces for another round.

In Africa, the Italian-Germans have secured the Suez Canal, and are strong enough to attack either into the middle east, or points south, possibly both.

In the Atlantic, the Germans have sunk a destroyer and a submarine, losing 3 UBoats.  The Americans fleet has some 9 destroyers, a carrier and a battleship against the remaining 4 Italian-German UBoats, and are preparing to invade Morocco. 

India and Burma have been reinforced with troops and a factory.  But Japan also has reinforced Indo China.

The Chinese suffered a very significant defeat, but managed to take back Hong Kong in their turn. 

The Japanese fleet is dominant in the Pacific.  It's only problem is finding targets worthy of the effort of their fleet.

Overall, the Axis Bum rushes have worked pretty well.  All but in Russia were successful.  Though that had a strong luck component as well.  But the allied production is very strong.  Roughly 400 to the Axis's 225 to start.

Turn 2 is now up.  See Here