MMP’s Summer 2015 Customer Update

June is the month for Gamers titles. Dean has two hot new Gamers releases to fill your summer days and a cool new preorder that is sure to give you give you the shivers.

Brand New Preorder / Brand New Series

Last Blitzkrieg is the first entry in the exciting new Battalion Combat Series (BCS), which simulates combat in World War II (and beyond) at the battalion scale. Its subject is the German Ardennes offensive Wacht Am Rhein (the Battle of the Bulge) on four detailed maps (at 1km per hex) and with 1,680 counters. Last Blitzkrieg covers the battle in a level of detail rarely seen before and does so in a very playable manner. The BCS itself was designed to show that battalion level combat is its own subject, being neither “small divisions” nor “large platoons”. The results may surprise some players, but will hopefully pique the interest of all and allow them to see many things they thought they already knew in a fresh light.

Key Battalion Combat Series concepts include:

• Objectives
• Recon Units
• Concentrated Armor and Support
• Prepared Defense
• MSRs and Combat Trains
• Set Piece Combats vs. Shock Attacks vs. Engagements
• Artillery Barrages
• Artillery Asset Points
• Attack by Fire
• SNAFU
• Activation by Formation
• Traffic and Coordination
• Fatigue
• Memory Markers

Last Blitzkrieg also adds:

• Bridge Blowing
• Greif Teams
• Weather
• Tiger Maintenance Woes
• Voraus Units

Game play commences on 16 December 44 and ends on 31 December 44 (with each turn being one day) allowing the first phase of the Allied counterattack to proceed. The winner is determined by comparing the German high water mark in Victory Point hexes against the situation at the very end of the game.

In addition to the full campaign, which uses a 4-map “box” layout, there are 10 scenarios of various sizes:

• Two 4-map scenarios
• Three 2-map scenarios
• Five 1-map scenarios (including two scenarios on portions of a single map)

Last Blitzkrieg was designed to bring all of this-and much more-to your table in a most historically accurate game that is jam-packed with information. The BCS was designed with twin goals: to provide the most insight possible into a battle and to provide games that have maximum playability.

Read Dean’s Designer Notes!

Last Blitzkrieg contents:

• Four 22″ x 34″ maps
• Six countersheets
• One Battalion Combat Series rules booklet
• One Last Blitzkrieg specific rulebook
• One Battalion Combat Series Crib Notes booklet
• Two Battalion Combat Series Charts and Tables booklets
• Two Last Blitzkrieg Charts and Tables booklets
• One box and lid
• Two 6-sided dice

PREORDER TODAY!

Now Available!

Beyond the Rhine depicts the campaign for Northwest Europe from September 1944 to April 1945. It begins with the German Army reeling from a string of near-fatal defeats, and in full retreat to the safety of the West Wall where it hopes to make a stand. The Allies, flush with victory, believe one more push will bring them home for Christmas.

The expected walk-over was not to be, and players will find either army a challenge to command. Allied material superiority is (mostly) balanced by German tenacity, rugged terrain, and lousy weather. Defensive-minded players will be happiest playing the Germans, but players of all temperaments will discover that there is still plenty of torque left in the Axis even at this late stage of the war. The Allies will not cross the Rhine without a tough fight!

Beyond the Rhine is a big game, with 3.5-mile hexes, 3.5-day turns, and counters for units from battalions up to divisions. At this scale the various Western Front battles-Market-Garden, Hürtgen, Bulge, Nordwind, Remagen, etc.-have an operational ebb and flow, but can also be viewed in relation to the whole front. A comprehensive game like this one, covering the entire Western Front, was long overdue.

Special rules in this 14th game of the Operational Combat Series have been carefully designed to recreate this fascinating campaign. They include:

• Random events similar to what are found in the award-winning DAK. These cover things like Fuel Shortages, Arty Ammo Stockpiles, Lost Couriers, Railway Strikes, and Dambuster Raids. The 58 possible events add a lot of historical flavor but require very little rules overhead.
• The importance and difficulty of the Rhine crossings are distilled into rules allowing the bridges to be blown and repaired, and pontoons to be emplaced.
• Background effects of Allied air interdiction are simple and elegant (built into the Terrain Effects Chart and Weather), but the player does have the option to switch some of these planes to normal barrages and sweeps.
• The strategic significance of the Ruhr and the Saar, of clearing the left bank of the Rhine, and of major ports such as Antwerp are reflected by simple economic effects and the game’s “Broadfront” restrictions on US supply placement and usage.
• The Wacht am Rhein counter-offensive is recreated by simple mechanics for off-map buildup and operational surprise.
• Many options are included for players wanting even more realism. For instance, there are rules for German Kampfgruppen and extra restrictions on the plethora of Allied independent units.

Beyond the Rhine features three monster-sized campaigns that use a 44×66-inch map layout and over 1,000 combat units. Also included are several smaller scenarios, including a 9-turn Bulge game played on a special map (otherwise, portions of all four maps would be needed).

• Grand Campaign: 4 maps, 70 turns
• Fall of ’44 (Montgomery): 2 maps, 26 turns
• Fall of ’44 (Bradley): 2 maps, 26 turns
• Operation Queen: 1 map, 9 turns
• Bulge Campaign: 4 maps, 40 turns
• A Time for Trumpets: 1 map, 9 turns
• Nordwind: 1 map, 13 turns
• Endkampf Campaign: 4 maps, 24 turns
• Spring of ’45 (Montgomery): 2 maps, 24 turns
• Spring of ’45 (Bradley): 2 maps, 24 turns.

Components:

• OCS rulebook (version 4.1a)
• BTR rules and scenario booklet with 10 scenarios (including 2 one-map scenarios).
• Axis and Allied Tables booklets
• Two OCS Charts and Tables Booklets
• Five Full Color Game Maps
• Eight countersheets
• Two Play Aid Cards
• Box and Dice

Available today at multimanpublishing.com!

Preorders shipping now. Available for sale soon.

Like It Never Snows did for Operation Market Garden, Day of Days takes on the the first 10 days of the Normandy landings at the company level. The Allied objectives are to land successfully and push far enough off the beaches to guarantee a rapid advance into France. The Axis player needs to either defeat the initial landings or plug them up to create a stalemate.

This game is both massive and extremely playable, giving players a unique appreciation for the issues involved at the beginning of the invasion. The importance of the initial air-drops, the real potential for brutal German counterattacks, and the need to get off the beaches quickly, all these come into sharp focus within the clean and fast-playing framework of the Standard Combat Series. Players can tackle the US landings separately as single-map scenarios, the Commonwealth landings on two maps, and of course there is the Whole Enchilada.

Contents:

• Game specific scenario/rulebook
• SCS 1.7 rules
• 4 11″ x 17″ setup charts
• 4 22″ x 34″ maps
• 8 countersheets
• 2 six-sided dice

Here is a final list of the 15 scenarios included in the box, and their sizes.

Full campaigns:

1. Full Campaign: 6/6 – 6/15
2. After D-Day Campaign: 6/7 – 6/15
3. Mid-Campaign: 6/10 – 6/15

Mini-campaigns:

4. Utah beach (Map A only): 6/6 – 6/15
5. Utah beach (Map A only): 6/7 – 6/15
6. Omaha beach (Map B only): 6/6 – 6/15
7. Omaha beach (Map B only): 6/7 – 6/15
8. American beaches (Maps A & B ): 6/6 – 6/15
9. American beaches (Maps A & B ): 6/7 – 6/15
10. British and Canadian beaches (Maps C & D): 6/6 – 6/15
11. British and Canadian beaches (Maps C & D): 6/7 – 6/15

Smaller scenarios:

12. Carentan (part of Map A): 6/10 – 6/14
13. Cutting off the Contentin (part of Map A): 6/13 – 6/15
14. Canadaian Crucible (part of Map C ): 6/8 – 6/10
15. Villers Bocage (Map C): 6/12 – 6/15

WBC 2015 will see the customary release of our annual issue of Special Ops. This year’s issue contains the complete game Storm Over Normandy. Utilizing the same system used for Storm Over Stalingrad and Storm OverDien Bien Phu, SoN is an exciting, tense game of the D-Day landings in Normandy. Special Ops #6 will also contain the usual bevy of ASL content and articles about MMP games:

• The Earlier Endeavor – 1943 Invasion of France for TME 3 (by Carl Fung)
• The Mighty Endeavor, Expanded Edition – A Gamer’s Perspective (by Ric Van Dyke)
• Hungarian Rhapsody – Preview
• Features Units of Last Blitkrieg – Premier Game of the BCS (by Carl Fung)
• Armor in the Battalion Combat Series – A Preview (by Dean Essig)
• Playing The Campaign Game – In The Devil’s Cauldron
• 29 Let’s Go! Design Notes for an Action Pack – ASL (by Perry Cocke and Ken Dunn)
• The Past Is Prologue – ASL (by Perry Cocke)

Brian, Perry, and the crew at MMP