Gary Grigsby’s War in the East: The German-Soviet War 1941-1945
 

Just announced at Matrix.

Posted: Sunday, June 28, 2009 by Sean Drummy
Type: Press Release


"The veteran game developers Gary Grigsby, Joel Billings and Keith Brors are working hard to bring gamers WWII on the Eastern Front.
Matrix Games and 2by3 Games (www.2by3games.com) are proud to announce that Gary Grigsby’s War in the East: The German-Soviet War 1941-1945 is in development!

David Heath, Director of Operations at Matrix Games, said “War in the East is still in the early stages of development but already the gameplay is proving to be fantastic. We know anticipation for this title is very high and we look forward to giving you more and more details about yet another 2by3 Games blockbuster as they become available!”

Gary Grigsby’s War in the East: The German-Soviet War 1941-1945 is a turn-based World War II strategy game stretching across the entire Eastern Front. Gamers can engage in an epic campaign, including division-sized battles with realistic and historical terrain, weather, orders of battle, logistics and combat results. As with all the award-winning titles made by the 2by3 Games team, factors such as supply, fatigue, experience, morale and the skill of your divisional, corps and army leaders all play an important part in determining the results at the front line. Gary Grigsby’s War in the East will come with a massive Eastern Front scenario as well as smaller scenarios all with different strategic and operational challenges.

Features include:

• 10 miles per hex and Weekly turns
• 25,760 hexes or over 2.5 million square miles of battlespace
• Division sized maneuver units (with some brigades/regiments and Soviet Corps)
• German Corps/Army HQs and Soviet Army/Front HQs
• Map covers from 100 miles west of Berlin in the west to the Urals in the east, and from 150 miles north of Leningrad in the north to Baku and Sofia in the south.
• Independent Corps/Army battalions to attach to maneuver units
• Air units by group in their own airbase units
• Detailed production
• Losses in individual vehicles and squads
• Detailed yet automatic accounting for support personnel and supplies/fuel/ammunition
• Historical commander ratings
• Accounts for troops/vehicles that are disrupted, disabled and fatigued
• Accurately depicts the need for training units before entering combat
• Detailed weather zones and ice levels
• Full war as well as smaller scenarios
• Intricate Fog of War rules and unit detection levels

Gary Grigsby’s War in the East: The German-Soviet War 1941-1945 is scheduled to be available in 2010."

Links:

http://www.matrixgames.com/news/585/...ar.in.the.East!

and

http://www.matrixgames.com/products/...etWar1941-1945

Looks like an updated version of one of my favorite games: Gary Grigsby's "War in Russia": http://www.matrixgames.com/products/...Matrix.Edition

Probably so--he updated his Pacific War game several years ago.

I playtested Grigsby's War Between the States and I'm working on Eagle Day/Bombing the Reich so I'm hoping I can help playtest this title when they ask for beta testers.

Let us know what you can about the titles in which you are involved.

War Between the States is what I would call a strategic level ACW game. Fairly easy to learn but pretty hard to master. Not the management level of AGEOD's American Civil War or Matrix's Forge of Freedom but just as challenging. Eagle Day/Bombing the Reich are the old Talonsoft Battle of Britian and 12 O'clock High games updated, bugs fixed (we hope) and compiled into one game. If you have any interest in that level of WWII aerial warfare then you'll want to have this one. Not sure when the release date will but should be before the end of the year.

Operation Barbarossa - Alpha AAR
 

"Operation Barbarossa was the code name for the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a 2,900 km (1,800 mile) front. It was the largest military offensive in history.

With permission from 2by3 I'll be showing you the opening moves of my test of the Soviet AI, set to Challenging, in the '41 campaign. Please remember we are still in alpha at this point."

More including screen shots here:

http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=2374651

Looks like a GOOD game, but I don't think I could force myself to play those "over-run" turns.

So a question for the East Front in the "know" guys.

It seems to me that most East Front strategic games can skip the first few years and start around late '42(? or whenever the "key" moment started). I found this is the case in boardgames (Russian Front) and computer games like TOAW. The first year(s) are simply a rush into Russia with not much opposition.

When playing the TOAW "scenario" Europe Aflame it was fairly just doing XYZ as the Germans until you attacked east and then had to be at "X" line by "X" time. Everything before this "X time" was really just a formality (like France/Denmark could really halt the Germans). {in fact some guys had the game so down to "mathmatics" that they could tell you how it would end at that time based on the # of men you had vs. the replacement rate you'd get at a certain time vesus the Russian replacement rate... all things being equal}

Why do games have you wander through those over-run years & not concentrate at "the" moment. Is there really anything different that can be done by the Russians in the first year(s) that would alter the war?

I played the Germans in TOAW-COW scenario covering the first year or so of the war. I don't remember if it was a fan designed scenario. By the end and in the winter before that, the Russians were successfully counter-attacking and blowing gaps in my line.

In Grigsby's original "War In Russia" (this game is really an update of that one), you could start in the spring of '42. But. . . Starfury (Jay) is the only person I know who claimed to have taken Moscow in the winter of '41. In that game, when the map turned white and the blizzards began, taking Moscow was almost impossible. I would stop attacking in late November and dig in. Then, in the spring of '42, taking Moscow was pretty easy. However, the Spring '42/ Stalingrad Campaign was a blast. All in all, "War In Russia" is a great game, and I'm sure this updated, fancy version will be quite good as well.