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The collection closet overflow has taken over the 3rd shelf.

1944 - The Beginning and The End

I have never played a game that lasted beyond 1943. Most games have ended in a decisive Axis victory as Russia has fallen. This time Russia held. I was very excited to begin what was essentially a new game.

The allied air campaign began. Escorts rolled and with only 11 dice hit 7 times!. It's a good thing those weren't Eastern Front rolls. The end result was a -1 to my WERPs but the near end of my fighters.

It was a good thing I had one last trick up my sleeve. My commitment to Africa was a big risk as I was relying on a land supply path that at best I figured would last until March/April of 1944. I had to move fast or retreat. Marshall must have figured the same thing so he reinforced, using SA's to get the blocks into Alexandria.

That is just what I wanted him to do.

Notice the two Italian units that for some odd reason never moved into Alexandria? One was the Italian Airborne which I promptly used to jump to El Alamein. Then using a combination of German strat moves and SA's, I moved German units out of Alexandria and into El Alamein to stop any efforts to re-open the supply line. Then I moved more Germans into Alexandria (that had been strat moved to Sinai) so that an American assault would fail as well.

The Allies responded by invading Upper Egypt which I had left open. Bonehead on my part but I had it covered because there were so many units in Alexandria they covered both spaces. I had no idea it was an invasion site. Doh!



In Russia, the Allies made a desperate attempt to cut my supply. I anticipated this a fortified both Don River and Stalingrad. When the attack came to Stalingrad I simply reinforced.



To begin March/April the Allies bombed again. This time the escorts hit 7 times with only 9 dice! Amazing rolls, just not at a critical time.

Before I could send the email with my purchases, the Allies conceeded the game granting an operational victory to the Axis.

The question is, should they have conceded? Looking at the photos, you tell us. We'd love to know if the game was a lost cause.

1943 Nov/Dec - Allied Moves

The Aliies did little aside from reinforce Alexandria even further and shuffle the elite Soviet units out of the constested Novgorod.

1943 Nov/Dec Axis Move

Mud

Not Much accept for my South by Southwest exit of Russia. I vactated territory I had no interest in defending and believed could easily be placed OOS once Russia received her 3rd SA.

I did move some German and Italian units into Africa to fend off the coming American armor. Now that the river and field fort were breached, my Italians needed the help if morale was to stay in tact.

1943 Sept/Oct - Allies on the Move?

Well, not really. They did attack though with the Russian elite infantry striking Novgorod. At the time I had 2 units there (correct me Marshall if I am remembering incorrectly) but chose to play a SA to reinforce. When it was all said and done, I had an armor unit that survived.

1943 Nov/Dec - Axis Move

Mud.

Not much for me to do except to continue my slow and steady retreat in Russia. I moved most blocks South and Southwest. I shifted out of areas that I either thought he wouldn't attack or that held no value to me anyway.

Yes it's nice to have all of that Russian production coming over to Germany but the reality is that it could be cut off sometime in 1944 so I better plan now because mud gets you nowhere fast and I have plans for my strat moves. :)

1943 Sept/Oct Operation Speed Bump

The Normandy invasion forced me to give up the dream of taking Russia in 1943, and use all of my operational moves to position myself for a bad weather turn in Russia. I placed speed bumps everywhere so that my supply lines could not be cut. With 2 SA's I find Russia to be much more dangerous.



I used all of my Strat moves to assemble a force in Paris. When it all said and done I hit Normandy with 15 blocks including 7 elite units. The assault cleared Normandy with one SA. Another was used for repositioning throughout Russia and the French coast.



I'd be curious to know what a more experienced player thinks but...

It would seem that while it bought him a turn for Russia's sake, the early Overlord is going to cost the Allied player in the long run. I am assuming the units lost will take too much money/time to build and then ship to Britain. I could be wrong but now HE is the one counting clear weather turns and I think he'll miss one because he won't be fully ready in 1944.

Thoughts?

1943 Jul/Aug Operation Overlord

A year early but a success none the less. The Allies invaded Normandy.



With all of my units in Russian, why not? This move meant that my last clear weather turn would be spent in France instead of Russia. I don't think he wanted to attack but he probably felt that he had no choice.

In Russia he used the 4 Elite infantry + 2gsu to attack Ladoga Swamp (10 pips of German infantry + 1 gsu) and made a suicide charge into Divina. This time the allies had the miracle rolls and Ladoga was cleared with only one SA!

1943 Jul/Aug ...Doh! - Axis Move

The PBEM Gods have spoken. It's amazing but true that one little oversight can cause a major headache and send the greatest of plans into the toilet. Can I get an amen?

The photo was taken while still plotting moves. I ended up using the Finish troops to completely cut off Moscow. Surely the game was over...



Until I am informed by Marshall that I am missing 4 Russian regulars in Divina. ...runs back to check old emails (lots of them) and sure enough, they're there. Ugh.

Had I known that, my positioning during the light mud turn would have been different. As it stood I had to waste an extra SA to get into position to take it out. I had to burn all 4 SA's.

What's worse is my blunder 'o the game...On my board I moved an armor into Vologda as part of an SA in Divia. I figured this was legal because the armor was in range 2 spaces and is allowed to stop one space short of the SA space. Long story short, I failed to email this move or even mention it on the phone so "it never happened." - My bad, live and learn.

1943 May-Jun

Jumping ahead because I am not sure how many are even reading this...

The Allies rushed American units into Africa so I fortified Alexandria and waited.



I used the turn to position myself for the clear weather. My hope was to somehow put Moscow out of supply and end the game. From this picture one would think I had a good shot at it.



The Russians sent the elite infantry into Divina swamp and cleared it. Otherwise it was a quiet turn. The Western front, though silient, was begining to look ominous. So I began to build the Atlantic wall. It helped that almost every German unit was on the board. I had some extra cash.

1943 Jan/Feb

Snow so not much happening...

The Allied replacements in Alexandria, coupled with the armor losses I took last turn meant if I didn’t reinforce the South, I’d likely lose my elite, 20 WERP, armor. With Russia buried in snow I did the following…


Opp moved the units from Sinai into Alexandria (normal combat)

Shuffled a lot of pieces around..

Continued the Bulgarian v Yugo Partisan war (normal)

Strat moved 7 more German units into Sinai. I planned to use two more SA's to finish the job.

The combat in Sinai was nothing short of a miracle of die rolls. Talk about getting it when you needed it. I hit 6/9 rolling for 5’s or better. Yikes. The Allied Alexandrian army was cleared in the initial combat phase saving the 2 SA’s I thought I would need to clear the space

I used one SA for a strat move allotment sending blocks back to Russia and dug in for the winter counter attack.

1943 Jan/Feb Snow

The units in Moscow, they move!

1942 Nov/Dec Axis Move - Allied Move

Mud

Axis Turn

I actually like Mud. It gives me a chance to relax and play defense. It stops what could be the beginning of the Russian counterattack. I figure unless I am pushing for a Major Victory, mud is my ally. That said, had snow hit, I may have tried to position myself for a knockout blow to Russia. But with mud, I elected to do one of my favorite things...

Set a defense and head to the southern zone.

We are playing with all of the 13.xx optionals so Africa is all clear weather. The order in which I did the following things is key. I don't think I would have figured this movement pattern out had I been been playing a face to face game. Given a day to think about it...

Key Opp Moves
I moved a unit from southern Russia into N. Iraq.

Left a rear-guard in Voronezh and fortified my southern weak points (never too early to plan a supply line defence).

Moved the entire Italian army in Africa into El Alamein - even though I knew he was up to something, I didn't think he saw my moves coming...

Moved 2 GSUs from Stalingrad to Persia

Key Strat Moves
Moved 7 German units, including 2 elite armor and a GSU, into N. Iraq.


SA #1
Breakthrough to Tran Jordan (3 German Armor and 1 GSU)

SA#2
Strat Move allotment - Everything else in Persia and N Iraq to Trans Jordan.

SA#3
Italian attack in Alexandria (normal) - I knew he had mostly armor.

SA#4
German attack into Trans Jordan - cleared the space but took 4 armor hits. He rolled 50% hits!!!

I know I'm taking the risk that I can get my armor in and out before the Russians start advancing. It's a calculated risk. Two good assaults next turn and I should be done...

Allied Reaction, er Turn

Russia immediately moved into the vacated Voronezh and crushed my rear-guard. Otherwise they were content to add some blocks to the weak points.

The Us and Britain used their SA to buy unlimited replacements in Africa (damn - not going easy :)). A fleet was moved into the Med so the they have a 1 fleet advantage. The US opp/strat moved 4 blocks across fron Sicily. I am guessing 3 infantry and one armor..

The Map at Turns End







Enough to make you dizzy..

1942 Sept/Oct Allies Move

Weather: Clear

In Russia the allies built a wall of blocks from Guryvev up to Moscow. Only 21 WERPs were available so I assume that all of the blocks were infantry.

A small counter-attack of 6 blocks was made into Voronezh. I reinforced from all surronding areas and made the count 6 Russian v 5 German. At the end of the combat the Russians used a SA to move the armor to Moscow



In the Med. The allies pulled out of El Alamein with 3 blocks moving behind Alexandria into Sinai. This move made me smell a trap as I am sure the WAllies wanted the Italians to push forward and lose there field fort. I knew from previous encounters that the US and Britian both had armor so leaving the field fort and following would present a great risk.



The rest of the board was quiet

Southern Russia at turns end


Britian - the face up blocks are new placements. I don't actually know what they are, I was just guessing based on WERP totals etc.

1942 Sept/Oct Axis Move

Prior to the turn the Allied player commented that the Germany army in the South was a good size but that I would have to choose between objectives in the South or North. I a greedy (can get me killed), here's what I did.

I chose to advance my units in Southern Russia as follows:

Operational:
From Kharkov I made a mass infantry push into Kursk and sent the armor with a few infantry into Don River (assault).

From Kransnodar the two blocks moved into South Steppes and Batumi.

There were several small moves that shuffled blocks forward to the front.

Strategic Moves:
Most were used to move several units, including a GSU into the South Steppes. However, the key move was an Italian strat move of an armor into South Steppes.

Initial Combat:
Don River cleared by the assault

Breakthrough Movements:
#1 Tula - Where you see the 6 block Russian Army and the field fortification.
Just about all of the German units from Kursk, and Luki moved in. A majority of the armor from Don River joined the fight.

The objectives were 3. First to put the Smolensk army OOS. Second, to take out the 2nd largest Russian army on the map and 3rd to get Russia to burn its SA.

I was guessing that the Russians might burn the SA to retreat, and was right. 2/3 objectives complete...

#2 My prime target - Southern Russia.
I played the SA in Grozny and moved every unit within reach including 2 GSU's (assault). An easy victory.

#3 My Best Move?
I used the Italian SA to move into the empty Baku!

#4 Stalingrad
All of the units that took Grozny, save 1 block, took Stalingrad in another easy assault.

When it was over the map looked like this:

Europe Engulfed - Play Along With Me - Session Report

Below are pictures from current play by email (PBEM) game. We started in 1939, and are currently in Sept/Oct of 1942. It is the Axis turn.

Feel free to post comments as to what you would do or would have done. I will post pictures only after I have moved so that my opponent will not say I was influenced.

Germany is in good shape for now. I think if the right weather comes, there's an outside chance Russia may fall...

What you cannot see:
U-boats = 58
ASW = 5
Allied Bombers = 1
Axis Bombers = 3
Allied Fiighters = 7
Axis Fighters = 5

1942 S/O
The WAllies chose to build in Alexandria and wait behind the river. We have been back and forth all game here.

In the Med.
Allied Fleets = 5 (2 lost to interdiction)
Axis Fleets = 5 (0 lost to interdiction)

Interdiction has found the Axis luckier than the Wallies.




Not pictured
3 Finish blocks in Onega Swamps
Baku is empty
1 Russian block in Grozny
2 Axis blocks in Trondhiem

Europe Engulfed Session Report

Hours Played 20+ (in and out of the rulebook a lot)
BGG posts about rules questions: 8
Fun Rating 10

I am penning this session report assuming those fanatical enough to read it already know the game. If you have never played Europe Engulfed, skip down to “final thoughts” a quick opinion of the game. Comments are not only welcomed but encouraged as this is my first EE game and my first SR.

We played the 1941 scenario using the suggested set-up. The Germans received a hit-bonus to all rolls during the initial combat phase of the first Axis turn. No other optional rules where used.

An overview of the game by years

1941 Axis – Barbarossa
As Germany I bought all of the Special Actions (SA) every clear weather turn and 8 U-boats every turn period. The first 2 clear weather turns I concentrated about 2/3 of my force in the South and pushed past the first river taking away 3 resource areas and surrounding the small force contested by the Axis minors in Eastern Europe. In the North, I pushed just short of Leningrad.

No, my advance was not spectacular but one must consider two things. First, I am a conservative player by nature. Second, my overall strategy was not to crush Russia but rather to push and hold the first two years and then stall the Soviet advance long enough to win a marginal victory. Push and Stall…

As the first string of bad weather approached, the Russians stood behind the river that protects Moscow and Stalingrad. I backed my armor and GS units into Bryansk leaving a sizable group of infantry Kursk. The weather was mud so I welcomed a Soviet counter attack. It was not to be. Instead he pressed into Finland which would stay contested most of the game. Any time I can get a Soviet unit pinned down in 1941, I will take it!

In the Mediterranean, I attacked the British force in Africa with the Germans and Italians. This are would stay contested until the end of 1942. I can’t answer as to why the Allied player didn’t finish the job earlier. Novice mistake perhaps but it sure helped me.

1941 Allies – Conscript and Reinforce
For the Allies, reinforcing Africa was a no-brainer. On the first Allied turn, I chose to engage his Mediterranean fleet figuring my odds would never be better. HE ROLLED 3 6’s sinking my ENTIRE FLEET. Hindsight tells me that I caught quite a break because we were learning the rules. I bought a fleet the next turn but should have been out of supply by 2 units. However, we did not realize this until I had my second fleet and all 4 of my remaining units were in supply. This mistake went both ways as he had too many allied units in the area to meet supply as well.

Lesson learned – In 1941, The Axis Fleet is for supply.

Africa was reinforced by British units and the Russians took the conscription. Moscow was reinforced and to my surprise, the Soviets immediately counter attacked. The Allied player by nature is a very aggressive player and this was his first game. He pinned the Finish down, and put enough units in Leningrad to deter a 2nd turn attack.

A beachhead was established in Trondiem because the Allied player wanted me to lose the 2 Swedish WERPs. For me it was a welcome sight because it used one of his 2 precious beachheads and I knew I could keep it contested for several turns.

1941 – Key Tactical Moves/Mistakes
At the end of his first turn, the Soviet player had left open Grozny and Baku. Perhaps he mistakenly thought the army in the Don River Bend was all infantry. Regardless, I used a SA and operational moved armor into both spaces. I realized that I would likely lose at least 1 unit (OOS) but figured losing the 6 WERPs would hurt him more.

Good Move? See Photo on blog.

Europe Engulfed Session Report with Stats
The HUGE mistake for the Allies was not increasing his ASW. I kept purchasing 8 subs per turn so by the end of the year I was almost into the 51-60 column. Add to this the two additional fleets purchased during the year and Britain was down to very little income right away. The ASW die rolls further hurt the Allied player. My subs were only reduced once during the year.

As mentioned, my mistake was putting the Mediterranean OOS. Had we known the rules, I think that would have had a much farther reaching consequence.

End of 1941


Early 1942 Axis – Waiting for Clear Weather
At the end of 1941, I had set my Eastern front to take advantage of the mud. My infantry were pushed up to the edge of the Moscow (not sure of its true name) River so that a Russian crossing would give me 2 hit bonuses. My armor was safely in the rear. When snow came, I recombined my units and when mud came again in Mar-April, I went back to the same mud defense position.

My WERP’s were up briefly with the capture of Gronzy and Baku. I even managed to keep them in supply because the Russian attack to cut them off at Don River Bend ended up as a contested area (thank you mud). I used my WERP’s to buy an elite infantry and armor unit, strat-moved them in and continued to play a patient defense. For Italy, I was sure to buy the SA because I knew it was only a matter of time before the morale collapsed.

Kept in supply


At the beginning of the last mud turn I used a SA to provided unlimited replacements to my largest army in Russia. Now all my armor was at full strength along with most of the infantry. Because I had virtually all of my armor still in play and in Russia, I was feeling pretty good about my situation.

1942 Allies – Here Comes the USA
The US entry into the war stopped the automatic lend-lease to Russia and England. With the added two fleets, the UK was averaging about 4 WERPs per turn. The ASW was upgraded as were bombers and fighters. The US immediately landed in Vichy occupied Morocco. We would later learn that the landing is not allowed before a certain date. It wasn’t a big deal as we chalked the entire game to learning.

In Russia, the 4 elite infantry immediately went to work pushing Germany and Finland out of northern Russia. A counterattack at the Don River Bend continued from 1941 and eventually all of the WERP’s were recovered.

Africa at The End of 1941


By the end of the year the Trondhiem and Africa campaigns were complete. Bombing of Germany was taking away 6 WERPs per turn and a large force was assembled in both England and Africa. In Russia, Leningrad had been liberated and Northern Russia was very strong.



1942 – Axis in Clear Weather
By clear weather, the Germans had two large armies in Luki and Dnepr River Bend standing across from 2 large Soviet armies in Ladoga and Byansk. The Bryansk army was huge and contained most of the Soviet armor. At this point I decided to change my strategy and go for broke.

I used my SA’s and moved both armies into Bryansk for what historically could be considered the battle of Kursk. Ground support and elite units made the difference here and I won a decisive victory.

I spent the rest of the year slowly pressing into the South because the allied player was reinforcing in the north. By the end of the year, I held Baku and Gronzy again.


1942 Key Tactical Moves/Mistakes
In Africa the Allies pinned the Axis down and eventually took over. However, I think that considering the Axis ceased to reinforce it after 1941, waiting until almost the end of 1942 to clear it, was a waste of time. The allied player seemed content to have me pinned. Experience has now taught us that finishing Africa sooner would have slowed my progress in Russia. This is especially true when you consider that I was able to transfer the maximum number of Italian units allowed to the Russian front, because I didn’t not have to fear an invasion.

During the operational moves prior to the huge battle in Bryansk, I moved what had to appear as 4 infantry units into Kursk. I believed that it would appear like a move to cut him off. In fact, two of the units were armor and with my last SA, I rushed them up to an emptied Moscow. In defense of the Allied player, it was very hard to see coming when you consider it meant pulling precious resources away from the battle that may determine the outcome of the game. It was also a one way mission. But I weighed the loss of armor vs. his loss of income and time taken to retake Moscow and figured the move to be well worth it.

Early 1943 Axis Decision Time
At the end of March-April I found myself in a tempting position. I held the entire South of Russia including Stalingrad and Guryev. The Russians had chosen to only reinforce the North and hold (or so it looked) because D-day was about to come.

1943 March-April World View


1943 March-April Eastern Front


1943 March-April Western Front


I positioned my largest army in Smolensk and pressed two smaller armies just south of the retaken/re-fortified Moscow in Tula and Voronzeh. The Voronzeh army was loaded with armor that could strike Gorky. That way on the first clear turn, if the opportunity presented itself, I could hit every Russian supply center.


With the main Russian Army in Minsk, I positioned my back line such that even with the used of armor and both SA’s, the Russians would fall one space short of cutting my supply.

Early 1943 Allies Strike Back
In what I now think was the best move in the game by the allied player, the Russian army immediately moved into the Pripet Marshes. I thought this was perfect because it meant that no armor was in the large army and that with infantry there was no way that my supply could be cut off. My gamble was about to pay off, or so I thought.

Germany used a SA to reinforce Pripet to further slow Russia. When the units were tipped over, there lay 2 cavalry units and the end of my game as supply would surely be cut. Great Move!

Despite an assault, the reinforcement, gave me just enough units so that the space stayed contested. I was never so happy to have snow. Lucky for me, I had another SA and reinforced it again during his breakthrough move. At the end of the Russian turn the space was contested and I was completely in supply. I got lucky here, big time.

In the Mediterranean, the assault on Italy I expected never came. Instead the landing came in Thesalonika into wide open Eastern Europe. The allied goal was to take out the Polesti oil.

1943 May-Jun War on All Fronts
My plan now was to use my operational and strategic moves to virtually clear the West and make a push for the fall of Russia. I figured that afterwards I could simply breakthrough strat move everything back to the West. As long as I didn’t lose Paris, I would win.

I moved everything I had it into place then realized, Oh @#$%, it’s light mud, no breakthroughs allowed. I was out of position big time.

The Allies took advantage and launched D-day. Only one beachhead was available because Thesalonika was still contested. The landing came in Normandy with 4 infantry, 2 airborne and 4 GS units. By some miracle, the space was contested after the initial combat phase and so the 2nd SA of both nations was expended to clear the space.

1943 Clear Weather at Last!
Twenty hours over 3 days came down to this. During the operational phase I attacked Moscow and Gorky, assembled a large army next to Leningrad and positioned a defensive wall around all of the Russian supply centers. The large army that defended Moscow proved only to be a group of one and two step infantry. Both spaces were easily taken.

My first SA was used to assault Leningrad. The benefit of Elite and GS units cannot be understated. That space too was taken rather easily.

I used my last SA to strat move my army back to Paris.


1943 Endgame
The Russian income was 17. The only placement options were The Ural Mountains, Archangel, and Kazan.

Endgame Russia


The US and Britain had a force of 7 blocks (5 infantry, 2 airborne) and 3 GS in Normandy standing across an Axis force of 9 blocks (7 armor, 2 infantry).

Endgame Western Front

The German army also had 2 SA’s remaining with which to reinforce.

At this point the allied player decided that there was no way that either Paris or a Russian supply center could be taken so he surrendered thus providing the Axis with a Major Victory.

Endgame Eastern Europe


Endgame World View

Final Thoughts
I am someone who cut my teeth on Risk and Axis and Allies. I love Eurogames and the new generation of American games. Block war games are a new discovery for me. That said, if I had the time, this is the game I want to be playing. I enjoyed every minute, every mechanic especially the special actions and the effects of weather. I am sure that we murdered the rules along the way but our experience was made all the better by the fact that the game is heavily supported by the designer in the BGG forums.

If you are considering block wargames and love the WWII theme, I highly recommend this game.

Game Stats
I have reached that geek plateau where one stops condemning his game to bad dice and starts tracking their every little roll to see if I really am “being screwed by my dice rolls.”

The following is clearly non-scientific tracking of the percent of time a hit was scored when rolling for a certain number.


Hits / Number of dice rolled (% chance of a hit)
Rolling For: 3 (66.6%) 4(50%) 5(33.3%) 6(16.6%)

Axis 27 / 46 78 / 155 108 / 302 79 / 431
58.7% 50.3% 35.8% 18.3%

Allies ----- 20 / 34 115 / 298 116 / 657
58.8% 38.6% 17.6%

Total Hits Rolled/ Total Number of Dice Rolled – Percent of Dice Rolled that Were Hits

Axis 292 / 934 31.2%

Allies 251 / 989 25.3%


Number of Hits Based on Odds vs. Actual Hits – Hits Above or Below Odds

Odds Actual +/-

Axis 279.5 292 +12.5

Allies 225 251 +26

On the surface it doesn’t appear that the dice played a major role in determining the outcome of the game. In fact, it looks that if not for the German income, the game would have been lost for sure.