The Moscow Campaign, subtitled "Strike and Counterstrike Russia", is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1972 that simulates combat near Moscow during World War II.
The Moscow Campaign, subtitled "Strike and Counterstrike Russia", is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1972 that simulates combat near Moscow during World War II.
On 22 June 1941, less than two years after Germany and the Soviet Union signed the non-aggression Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, Germany attacked the Soviet Union across a wide front, with several strategic goals in mind, including the capture of Moscow. Although the Germans exploited the element of surprise and quickly realized large geographical gains through the summer and fall of 1941, lack of supplies and worsening weather brought the German attack to a halt on the outskirts of Moscow. Soviet forces, bolstered by reinforcements from Siberia, then staged a powerful counteroffensive at the end of 1941. [1]
The Moscow Campaign is a two-player board wargame in which one player controls German forces, and the other player controls the Soviets.
The game box contains:
The Moscow Campaign uses the combat system developed for a previous SPI publication, Kursk: Operation Zitadelle . Like most wargames of the time, players start each turn with alternating movement and fire. However, the Kursk system emphasizes the power and mobility of tanks by giving all mechanized units a second movement phase to allow for a breakthrough after successful combat. [2] So the first player has three phases: [3]
The second player then has the same three phases, completing one full turn, which represents 2 days of game time.
Zones of control vary, depending on the situation. Most zones of control allow enemy movement through them provided a movement penalty is paid. This allows mechanized units to slip through the enemy line. [4] For the purposes of determining whether a unit is supplied or not, units must be able to trace an unbroken line no more than 12 hexes to supplies, and the supplies themselves must connect to unbroken rail lines. In addition, Russian supply lines cannot be traced back through German zones of control, but German supply lines can be traced back through Russian zones of control. (Thus, a German unit has to be completely surrounded before it is considered unsupplied.) [4]
Weather plays a pivotal role in the game, possibly causing long delays for the Germans, and halving German attack strength. [4]
There are a total of 24 scenarios, with various start and end points and orders of battle during the Moscow campaign. Victory points are awarded for enemy units destroyed, as well as complete supply lines and some geographical objectives. [5]
One of SPI's first wargames, and their first tank combat game, was 1971's Kursk: Operation Zitadelle, designed by SPI founder Jim Dunnigan with an innovative second movement impulse for mechanized units. This same system was used by Dunnigan in a series of division-level tank combat games, including The Battle for France, 1940 (1971), Turning Point: The Battle of Stalingrad (1972), Breakout & Pursuit (1972), Destruction of Army Group Center (1973), and The Moscow Campaign.
The Moscow Campaign featured graphic design by Redmond A. Simonsen and was originally packaged in a plain white box with a red title ribbon. In 1974, SPI developed their "flatpack" box with an integrated counter tray, and The Moscow Campaign was re-released in the new-style box. [5]
In a 1976 poll conducted by SPI to determine the most popular board wargames in North America, The Moscow Campaign placed 102nd out of 202 games. [6]
In the 1977 book The Comprehensive Guide to Board Wargaming , Nick Palmer called it "moderately complex" and noted the "detailed map." [6]
Writing for Moves , Perry Moore called it "one of those games (like Panzergruppe Guderian ) that can be played endlessly for the excitement of the German sweep into Moscow before the rains and mud come, for the tense battles as time becomes a hindrance to the German, for the continual struggle to maintain supply." Perry concluded, "It is an exciting game for both sides, and the rules are clear and work well." [4]
In The Guide to Simulations/Games for Education and Training, Martin Campion thought that "The game shows the task that Hitler set for his army was nearly impossible. It shows the effect of Russian ability to pour men into the battle, the effect of Russian weather, and the effect of German inability to keep supplies moving as far as the front." Campion concluded, "This is a realistic game but a little too complicated for the amount of realism achieved." [7]
PanzerArmee Afrika, subtitled "Rommel in the Desert, April 1941 - November 1942", is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI) in 1973 that simulates the World War II North African Campaign that pitted the Axis forces commanded by Erwin Rommel against Allied forces. The game was revised and republished in 1984 by Avalon Hill.
Battle of the Bulge is a board wargame published by Avalon Hill in 1965 that simulates the World War II battle of the same name. General Anthony McAuliffe (ret.), who had been commanding officer at Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge, was a consultant during the game's development. The game proved popular and sold over 120,000 copies, but was dogged by criticisms of historical inaccuracies, and was finally replaced by a completely new edition in 1981. A third edition in 1991 was released as part of the Smithsonian American History Series.
War in Europe is a grand strategic "monster" board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1976 that attempts to simulate the entirety of World War II's European theater of operations from 1939 to 1945. One of the largest wargames ever produced, War in Europe features 4000 counters, four rulebooks, and nine maps that when placed together cover an area of 38.5 ft2. The game is nominally a three-player game, but each side can be represented by teams of players. SPI estimated the full game would take at least 180 hours.
Panzergruppe Guderian is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications, Inc. in 1976 that simulates the 1941 Battle of Smolensk during World War II.
Narvik: The Campaign in Norway, 1940 is a board wargame published by Game Designers' Workshop (GDW) in 1974 that simulates Operation Weserübung, the German invasion of Denmark and Norway during World War II. The game was one of the first in the Europa series of twenty interlocking games envisioned by GDW that would cover the entire European and North African theatres from the start to the end of World War II, using identical map scales and similar rules.
Kursk, subtitled "History's Greatest Tank Battle, July 1943", is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1980 that simulates the 1943 Battle of Kursk during World War II. The game proved popular, reaching the top of SPI's Bestseller list, and was well received by critics.
Barbarossa: The Russo-German War 1941-45 is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1969 that simulates the conflict between Germany and the Soviet Union on the Eastern Front of World War II. This was only SPI's second game produced during a preliminary round of "Test Series" games, and proved to be the most popular. Despite the title, taken from the German operational name for their initial invasion of the Soviet Union, the game covers the entire Eastern Front campaign from the German invasion in 1941 to the Fall of Berlin in 1945.
The Battle of Borodino: Napoleon in Russia 1812 is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1972 that is a simulation of the Battle of Borodino during the French invasion of Russia in 1812.
Destruction of Army Group Center, subtitled "The Soviet Summer Offensive, 1944" and often shortened to DAGC, is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1973 that simulates Operation Bagration, the June 1944 Soviet offensive during World War II that shattered the German line and marked the start of Germany's long retreat back to Berlin and the end of the war.
The East is Red: The Sino Soviet War is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1974 that simulates a hypothetical invasion of Manchuria and North China by Russia using 1970s armaments.
1812: The Campaign of Napoleon in Russia is a collection of two board wargames published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1972 that both simulate Napoleon's disastrous invasion of Russia. One game uses a traditional hex grid map, and the other uses a map of areas and regions.
El Alamein: Battles in North Africa, 1942 is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1973 that simulates the final four months of the North African campaign during World War II.
The Game of France, 1940: German Blitzkrieg in the West, originally titled "The Battle for France, 1940", is a board wargame originally published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1971 that was subsequently re-issued by Avalon Hill in 1972. Both editions simulate the World War II Battle of France in 1940, when the German blitzkrieg offensive overwhelmed French and British defenses in northern France.
Kursk: Operation Zitadelle is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1971. It was the first wargame to simulate the Battle of Kursk, the large tank battle during World War II.
Korea: The Mobile War is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1969 that simulates the Korean War.
Leipzig: The Battle of Nations, subtitled "Napoleon vs. Europe", is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1969 that simulates the 1813 campaign of Napoleon in central Europe, including the Battle of Leipzig. The game was one of the first Napoleonic board wargames, and a number of innovative rules such as the effect of individual leaders on combat were adopted by other wargame publishers.
Lost Battles: Operational Combat in Russia is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1971 that simulates hypothetical combat situations set in the Soviet Union during World War II.
MechWar '77, subtitled "Tactical Armored Combat in the 1970s", is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1975 that simulates hypothetical tank combat in the mid-1970s between various adversaries, using the same rules system as the previously published Panzer '44.
East Front is a board wargame published by The Control Box, Inc. in 1976 that simulates combat on the Russo-German Front during World War II. The game had unusual hexagonal-shaped counters rather than the more traditional square counters.
Tannenberg is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1969 that simulates the Battle of Tannenberg on World War I's Eastern Front. The game was created by game designer Jim Dunnigan as a companion piece for Avalon Hill's Western Front wargame 1914, also designed by Dunnigan. Although Tannenberg could be played as a standalone game, rules were included to combine it and 1914 into a two-front wargame. Nine years later, Tannenberg was completely revised and republished as a free pull-out game in SPI's house magazine Strategy & Tactics to promote SPI's upcoming release of The Great War in the East. The second edition was also sold as a standalone game.