The armour counters with the picture of the tank are on the reverse side of the armoured units.

Glad you're having fun, looks like you're getting a good emerging narrative out of your playthrough 😀

That's a lot of highlights 😁

It does sound like the designer really threw in everything and a kitchen sink into this one.

Does sound like you have a massive undertaking on your hand with this one - you have regular+irregular warfare, air and naval component, economy, politics of civil war and all. Pity there are very few other titles on the subject that are not very light - I wish there was something in between this one and the light treatments available.

This is an incredibly interesting topic, with regular armies on both sides, a massive guerrilla movement going on at the same time, and all kinds of political differences handicapping the resistance, plus supply lines for vital foreign aid and who knows what else. A detailed treatment that really works would be amazing. From what I could find out about it though it sounded like it still needed another round or two of development. It’ll be interesting to get your thoughts (eventually) on whether it works with the rules as written.

Congrats on pushing through the rules 😁 Regarding factions, think this is similar to Invasions from Wisdom Owl - you'll have a large advantage if you organically understand relationships between the different actors in the game...

Must admit I normally like the approach of replaced counters with better units (when they have new designations - like in most East Front games), or, at higher level, when their DRM changes, like in Unconditional Surrender. But, considering how many different types / factions you have here, it would make sense to add extra counters to mark upgrades.

All within expected parameters 😀

How many air units are there compared to the rest of them? And naval units, for that matter?

From a "completeness" point of view Naval Rules are always nice, especially if you like all things Naval (like I do). But I'm not convinced game on China 37-45 really needs dedicated naval rules to be added to an already large rulebook...

These videos are appreciated! I think I may get this game out of the box. I had it on ebay and I've now taken it down.

Sounds like the main complexity in the game is really to manage different factions, learning HQs limitations / move types. In comparison, Combat sounds relatively straightforward.

That map is really pretty...

Agreed regarding no vids on this one, it's a problem with many "older" games that most of the latest titles don't have. Compass/Moe are putting a lot of efforts jnti their "how to plays", making games that much more accessible...

Quite a few special move types. How manageable it all is?

Just got my copy! 👍

Thanks, really enjoy those rules intro videos, especially on the games that don't get much internet coverage - gives me a good idea on how the games work and if it's something for me...

Yes, these series of vids are super helpful.

Higher MP costs for overstack remind me of MMP's GCACW's rules...

Regarding political system I quite like the designer gives you the "historic" option, but ultimately for a game like this I'm not sure how likely I'd be to play the game again soon enough after playing first time to re-play it with full political swing...

I thought about buying this two or three times, but each time managed to talk myself out of it, despite all the promise it has.

Nice, another huge project as well 😁

Don’t hear much about this one

Oh wow, I have that game on my shelf, forgot about that one. I will definitely be watching!

Thanks for an update, glad you're still having fun with the games 😀 I've heard the name before but gave it a pass - recently moving towards opposed games (even when playing solo), really can't be bothered learning separate rules for me and AI...

These videos have been super helpful. There’s not much out there on this game. I really appreciate your time and efforts in making these, thank you!

In Germany, the Warsaw Pact forces must concentrate on a few high odds attacks each impulse. On turn one it is crucial to eliminate 3 or so NATO divisions and keep driving west in order to disrupt NATO’s ability to form a solid front. The Pact must also make effective use of the SOP, avoiding ZOCs in the first impulse unless attacking, and locking in as many NATO units to prevent their reserve movement.

As the USSR, attacking Finland makes sense once the lower quality reinforcements arrive from Leningrad. But attacking Sweden makes no sense and is best avoided - Sweden's army is actually quite capable in this game and it will cause far more problems than the few extra hexes of frontline are worth, Wow, it is interesting that the Soviets overran Denmark so quickly. I do not think this happened in any one of my games. Certainly the attack with communist forces from Denmark into the Oslo fjord looks promising! The situation in the Balkans with Greece staying neutral certainly heped the Soviets. Still, even with that and with you sending IIRC all of the big strategic soviet reinforcements into Germany - does not seem like any soviet units will make it to the Rhein river. The Austrains will be taken out, especially since your soviets pushed decently far west of Munich. NATO will need to send the italians into the alpine passes, but these are very easy to block for either side. But I do wonder - if the Italians will end up being overextended once the Warsaw pact takes out both Austria and Yugoslavia? That could get dicey. Alternatively, you could send some soviet lower quality reinforcements at Yugoslavia, once that is gone you can turn them against Greece if the frotn around Constantinople becomes a total quagmire. The campaign 4 map game does indeed seem more fun! Just that I never had the table space for all of it. -------------------------------------------- Cute to see you mention Advanced Third Reich. Yeah, played that one some time ago too! We had an old boxed version from the early 90s.

With WW3 being (fortunately) hypothetical it's really hard to know which way the battle would go - especially with so many fronts involved. Interesting how differently different games portray the conflict. Must admit I'm much more interested in way more unrealistic scenario of WW2 axis victory and assumed invasion of the American mainland... Saying that, recently my collection of WW3 wargames grew a bit, so I'm confident I'll give it a whirl in a near future.

Thanks!

Your videos are good, but your playlists look like they are sorted by date (newest first). So if one plays an entire playlist, the videos are played in reverse order.

I played this with my ex something like 2 years ago. The game looks interesting at first glance, but both the Balkan and German fronts quickly degenerated into a ww1 static stalemate in all of our playthroughs. The Artic front situation is really resolved in the first 4 turns, because NATO can block all the mountain passess and take out the Soviet airforce unless the soviets gain ground decisively early on. And if Sweden enters the war, then the most the USSR can win is a draw. All in all the middle east was the only front that we found to be interesting as a game, chiefly due to the political cards. Very well designed game mechanically (especially the air war), but unfortunately the strategic situation is just not one that we found interesting. Not enough meaningful decisions to be made and most fronts end up in a stalemate very quickly. Disclaimer: We had never played a "combined all fronts campaign" because of a lack of table space. We played each front as a separate game. So perhaps the game does become much more interesting if played on all maps at once with the USSR getting big choces as far as where to use their reinforcements..

Wish I^d bought this instead of Red Strike. I just can't get a reply from Vuca Sims about my order. Really annoying.

I start learning the game and I hope you can help me. I am a little bit confused about Light Cavalary. LC can not make an Cavalry Charge (14.1). But can a LC make a normal attack, or attack an enemy LC? Does LC in a stack with other units count for odds? Thank you

Thanks for an update. I was looking at Flashpoint Golan recently but it feels too complicated, now you got me curious in maybe I can pick up a "WW3 in the Middle East" instead...

I've just finished playing the Persian Gulf scenario. Pact substantial victory was the result. Iran and most of the factions of the Iranian Army went to the Pact, along with Syria. Jordan stayed neutral and everything else went NATO. Pact used battlefield nukes towards the end.

Thanks again for keep posting this! You mention that you are role playing a bit, and it makes me wonder how much sandbox opportunities are available for players? Can you go a bit of the rails, if you wanted to?

Thank you for helping me to understand the rules better

How does this game compare in complexity to the non-Grand Campaign Der Weltkrieg rules? I use blue tack for counters, but the originals - I can the original counter sheet, then make my own counters, which I blue tack. However, the blue tack and mounting maps on my walls, is entirely due to you 🙂

Semi-ginger is really trying to setup a blocking position - despite the colours like like he's trying to support the NATO's defense... Hopefully all the tanks survived this time around?

I'd need to empty the living room to setup this one 🤣

Good timing for me that you are posting on this game, as I was considering purchasing it. Watching your videos, will help me decide. Thank you!

This is a game i really need to get on the table. Been on my shelf of shame for too long.

I don't have a cat so could never see me using blu-tac on the tabletop. But using it with wall-mounted charts is a dandy idea!

That wall mounting is amazing

It is apocalyptic. Iranian factions launching attacks. Eastern and Western powers clashing. And giant cats stomping over large territories of the Earth.

Normandy has the problem of the invasion this is almost a seperate mini game. You will never get it right first time and its a large rules overhead. If I was recommending a GTS start it would be the 'No chance of surrender' or even 'The Devils Cauldron' or even 'Race For Bastogne'. For a CSS start I would recommend Montelimar because Guam also has an invasion system to master. I wouldnt recommend Fulda as a CSS start because it is a heavily modified system which evolves even further from its GTS roots.

Is it any easier for other CSS games? I have both Fulda and Guam for CSS and Normandy GTS game but yet to get around to either system in anger. Tempted to start with CSS Guam then jump onto Normandy, what do you think?

A cat can storm through the gap as well😁