defiant russia

Published by Avalanche Press
Designed by William Sariego
Developed by Brian Knipple
Artwork by Terry Moore Stricklands & Peggy Gordon.

The game deals with the German Invasion of the Soviet Union - 1941, covering the entire Eastern Front from June (the launch of Operation Barbarosa) through to December (the Soviet winter offensive). Units represent Corps (German) and Armies (Soviets), each hex represents around 45 miles and turns are monthly.

Game facts.

Solitaire - The game plays fine solitaire. Using 'buckets of dice' instead of a traditional Combat Result Table, means that there is always a potential unpredictability to attacking.

Game time - Victory is checked at the end of the game (7 turns). There is 1 scenario and this takes around 3 hours to play. Setting up the game is easy (no hex numbers to search for).

Game size - The map is 17" x 24" and there are 140 counters. The charts are contained in the rulebook, so the game does not take up much room. Especialy in the first few turns, the German forces are crowded together and both armies are in close contact, thankfully the map has hexes that are easily bigger than the counters, which greatly helps managing stack and reduces those frustrations caused by knocking counters around etc. I have gone past the point of even wanting to play games that use small hexes. The box is small by wargame standards, being just over 9" x 6" and the whole package has something of the '120 Series' (a games series produced by GDW, playable in 120 minutes and pacakged in a similar way) feel to it - quite nostalgic really.

Complexity - The back of the box says 1.5 on a scale of 1-5, that sounds about right. Maybe, I would push it a tad higher, say to '2' because there are some subtle things to remember such as which units can move from ZOC to ZOC, under what circumstances and how weather may impact on this. This level of chrome is not at all dificult to assimilate because the rulebook is so well laid out, it can be referenced during play in just a few moments.

In fact, the rulebook is very well done. Clearly, Mike Bennighof has done some very tight editing and has included some very useful cross referencing. The rules are cleanly written and the designer has managed to get nice bits of chrome into the game, without adding undue complexity. William Sariego is a name to keep an eye on, as playability looks to be his trademark.

hit and anything else is a miss. Often referred to as a 'buckets of dice' combat system, the die rolls frequently produce none, one or two hits - and occasionally three or four hits. It is the expectation (and fear) of the latter that adds uncertainty and some tension to the game. The combat system can break stalemates and upset the plans of either side, making it a good solitaire tool.

The geography of this theatre of war is interesting and the terrain adds some nice nuances to play as movement values, combat values and terrain effects interact. There has been some comment that although the map is generally nice, the railtracks are over bold and spoil the appearance. Initially, I thought the same thing, however, once the game is played, the importance of the rail network (for reasons of supply) becomes obvious and the boldness of the network is actually quite helpful.

Each player turn (German first) has a movement phase followed by a combat phase, which is then followed by an exploitation segment, this allows some unit types further movement and a combat ability. Exploitation is cleverly handled, helping to highlight differences between the two armies and showing the effects that the weather had on the fighting. The first turn (June) is played without an exploitation phase and this has received some criticism at Consimworld (internet discussion forum), for apparently denying the Germans with a turn 1 blitzkrieg type ability. In the games that I have played, the bulk of the Russian line has been able to disengage on turn 1 and fall back. Since combat is mandatory (not in the exploitation phase), falling back leaves much of the Russian army intact by the end of game turn 1, as they are not forced into further combats that turn.

Possibly, there is some 'design for effect' (as John Hill might call it) going on here, in which the design aim is to get the Germans moving eastwards. The casualty effects of the opening weeks of the war, may already be reflected in soviet unit strengths. If the Russians do pull back, the Germans make progress of between 90 - 130 miles, which sounds about right. At the end of my games, there is little fight left in either army, so the historical exhaustion of both sides appears preserved.

There is certainly a learning curve for the German player that involves getting the best out of every turn. This requires an understanding of how to setup to maximise initial attacks, how ZOCs work in relation to armour slipping through them and how to cut the enemy supply, so that encirclements can follow.

I have yet to master this mobile handling of the German army and so far in my games, I have struggled to get much beyond Kiev / Minsk - never mind threatening Moscow. Both of these cities become very important because not only do they give victory points, but they are supply choke points and their control is vital.

One of the things that I really like, is the way that it appears as though the Russians are losing large numbers of units compared to the Axis forces. But while the German units are not going into the 'dead pile' at the same rate, they are flipping to their reduced sides and bit by bit, the German army degrages and starts to struggle to maintain any real offensive capability.

I use the optional random weather charts, which adds a small amount of unpredictability (nice touch). There is a small chance that snow will fall in November, though it becomes a certainty In December. First snow is significant because whichever month gets the first snow, all German units during that month suffer combat penalties, while all Russians score hits on a '5' or '6' rather than just '6'. In December, the Russians also get to convert 4 Infantry armies to 'Shock Army' status. This maintains interest throughout the game as the Russian player gets to prepare and launch an offensive, which can undo so much of the hard won German efforts made in the mid-game.

Defiant Russia is a very accessable, playable and replayable game. It is made all the more enjoyable by having well edited rules and having something of the 'I want to play that again' factor.

German Army Group North has a difficult task from the outset and some poor dice rolling can really hurt them. On the first two turns, I tend to give their attacks most of the air support. The Rumanian front to the far south also initially struggles because it's supply line will not allow it to reach Odessa. Opening up a supply route is one of the reasons why Kiev becomes such an important target and task of taking it, will fall to Army Group South - expect some bitter battles here.
The occupation of Kiev is worth a victory point and it's occupation by the soviets is conditional to them receiving one of their replacement points each turn.

The terrain at Minsk is very restrictive, as the city is flanked by woods to one side and the Pripet Marshes to the other. The Guderian leader counter will most likely end up here. It is easier to capture from the west than the east and so the soviet player may put a lot of units in the Minsk area in an effort to hold onto it - this will be at the expense of units elsewhere, probably the Pripet Marshes, so there may be an opportunity in the marshes for a relatively easy German advance (with infantry). In the effort to move ever eastwards, the German player may be tempted

to always advance after combat if the enemy hex is vacated. Beware of how that months weather will effect the friendly exploitation phase, as any advanced unit that is left unsupported is likely to fall to enemy counter-attack, especialy if it can be put out of supply. Often it is better just to advance with just one unit, so that the other can keep the supply chain open. If the Axis player has any spare air capacity, those points can be used to attack the Black Sea Fleet, since that fleet can keep one unit in Odessa fully supplied by sea. This will help the eventual Axis assault on Odessa.
The soviet player should be mindful in October, that snow may fall (1 in 6 chance) in November and so have units readily placed to launch an offensive (with Zhukov). If some of those units are placed on the rail network, they can easily be shifted to another location in December if the snow is delayed, so as to confuse the Axis player as to where the main assault will fall.

Although overall, (as with most games) lucky die rolls should average out over a game, it appears to me that the game can become unbalanced if the Russians get particularly lucky when they make their defensive fire rolls during the German Combat Phase of game turn 1.

If the Germans suffer very heavy casualties in this phase, they will find the rest of the game an uphill struggle. In particular, Army Group North is succeptable to high casualties as there is quite a lot of Soviet defensive fire aginst them.

Of course, you could play the game several times and never see this 'lucky spike' but when it does happen, it can be quite dramatic because the effects occur so early in the game.

I have tested two different house rules that help negate the number of hits that the Germans might take on their part of game turn 1. They should not be used together, choose either one or the other.

The first house rule simply has the effect of making the Germans luckier on game turn 1 (ie the results could happen anyway from normal die rolls). Everytime on GT1 that Russian unit(s) make a defensive fire, their first HIT that they score is ignored. (ie ignore the first '6' rolled).

The second house rule, which I prefer at the moment, is that in the German Combat Phase of game turn 1, attacks are NOT mandatory. This allows the Germans to concentrate their attacks and reduces the number of defensive fires from the Russian player.

The house rules do not have a significant effect on play, other than to negate the chance of the German player receiving too many hits on their part of game turn 1.

It is also worth noting that this game appears to be errata free - other than the German deployment zones are not named on the map, though it becomes fairly obvious. Army Group North is in the top deployment zone, then Army Group Centre below them, then Army Group South below them and finally, the Rumanian Front units are deployed into the lower zone.