The second V-Mail Postcard Game, UNTERNEHMUNG 25, chronicles the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia in 1941. The basic game system is similar to the of its predecessor, Malaya. New elements include German mountain troops, Panzer Corps, air support, and the bombing of Belgrade, as well as the effects of mountain and river terrain. Hungarian and Italian troops also make an appearance.
Can you, as the Germans, make a lightning-fast assault and capture Belgrade in time to release units for the upcoming invasion of Russia? As the Yugoslavs, can you derail the German timetable and buy time for the Allies to react? It’s all up to you.
18 counters at the Corps and Army level and a full-color map of Yugoslavia- all on a 5×8 inch postcard!
The World War II RPG by Mikko Kauppinen is designed as a simple game that is deadly to low level characters, but that allows more powerful characters to do very cinematic actions. Characters have three attributes and a number of skills. Action resolution is done by rolling 1d6, subtracting the result from the relevant attribute and adding one. If the result is more than zero, the character has succeeded, and bigger numbers mean greater successes.
Casemate Publishers recently sent a copy of a new book titled Operation Barbarossa 1941: Hitler Against Stalin. In more than 300 pages, author Christer Bergstrom offers a fairly detailed overview of the Nazi invasion of Soviet Russia from June to December 1941. Bergstrom offers a nice narrative of the operation, along with a wealth of data, quotations from participants and official documentation. The book is also well illustrated.
I call Operation Barbarossa 1941 an overview only because I recognize that the Nazi invasion has over the years attracted an astonishing amount of research and publication. Amazon alone offers nearly two hundred titles on Operation Barbarossa, many of which are dedicated to individual facets of the story, such as the Siege of Brest, or “Operational Logic And Identifying Soviet Operational Centers Of Gravity During Operation Barbarossa, 1941.”
I had only a general knowledge of Operation Barbarossa (mostly from my general reading years ago when I was in my Squad Leader days) prior to going through this book, and thus felt that it was quite worthwhile. Operation Barbarossa 1941‘s utility and interest will very depending upon how much a reader already knows about the invasion. And, because I am not an expert on the Second World War, I am in no position to judge the accuracy of either the narrative or conclusions. However, the book is very well documented, and the author has a stellar reputation. Old Grognards will nonetheless invariably find something to criticize.
From the publishers’ description:
Operation Barbarossa was the largest military campaign in history. Springing from Hitler’s fanatical desire to conquer the Soviet territories, defeat Bolshevism and create ‘Lebensraum’ for the German people, it pitted two diametrically opposed armed forces against one another.
The invasion began with 4.5 million troops attacking 2.3 million defenders. On one side was the Wehrmacht, without any doubt the world’s most advanced military force. On the other were the Soviet armed forces, downtrodden, humiliated, decapitated and terrorized by an autocratic and crude dictator with no military education whatsoever.
Based on decades of research work in both German and Russian archives, as well as interviews with a large number of key figures and veterans, Operation Barbarossa brings our knowledge on the war on the Eastern Front several big steps forward. It reveals and dispels many myths and misconceptions including: the myth of mass surrenders by Soviet soldiers; the myth about the vast differences in troop casualties between the two sides; the myth of the Soviet partisans and the myth that it was the Arctic cold that halted the German offensive. It also does not shy away from difficult truths such as the true nature of Finland’s participation in Operation Barbarossa, and the massive scale of rapes committed by German troops.
Illustrated with over 250 photos, many never previously published, and several clear and detailed maps, this is an objective, balanced account, published in time for the 75th anniversary of the start of Operation Barbarossa on 22nd June 2016. Christer Bergström has once again produced what will be the definitive account of this monumental campaign.
