No Retreat: The Russian Front

Played my first game of No Retreat: The Russian Front yesterday.  Quick verdict - great game!  I have the other two of the GMT versions as well and am looking forward to playing them and the upcoming France/Poland title as well.  Plus playing this one again.

Setup for the 1941 start. 

End of German turn 1.  Stars show battle hexes and lines are advance paths.  Armor can advance two hexes past the battle hex and others can advance one depending on terrain and weather.  In the south the result was an EX so no advance.

End of Russian turn 1.  The unit in the Surrendered box should not be there - cleared it up later, can only surrender if OOS counter is on unit at time of destruction.  Russian counterattack ended up in a counterblow (means the Germans have to attack the stack next turn if still adjacent).  A Russian card play caused a German step loss as well.  Finally, the Russians were able to place a destroyed unit back on the map in Kiev which will gum up the works for a turn.

End of German turn 2 (July/August)

Kiev and Smolensk are taken.  Odessa holds out.  Panzers on the outskirsts of Moscow!

Forgot to flip that one around, end of Russian Turn 2.

The Russians place reinforcements in the line (they can put them right in an enemy ZOC).  Devious German card play allows the panzers outside of Moscow to move during the Russian turn and they attack and take the city to the North.  A similar card play seals the fate of the unit outside Kiev which is eliminated OOS.

End of German turn3 (Sept/Oct).  Normally it would be mud but a card play last turn changed it to clear - not good for the Russians!

Moscow, Leningrad, and Odessa fall to the German onslaught.  The Russians are in a tight fix now.  The Germans just missed the Sudden Death victory this turn but are closing in on the turn 6 one.  Capturing one more Objective hex (Sevastopol is one) will also win the game.

End of Russian turn 3.

Russian unit in Deneprovosk(?) is eliminated by being OOS and a German card play that eliminates it before it could get back in supply (getting the coast would have done it).  Russians attack in the south and get a counterblow result.  Same thing in the center.

Russian Card play causes the turn 4 (November/December) weather to be mud.  This slows the panzers down but lets them fight at full strength, most likely it saved Sevastopol)

Russian unit in city outside Moscow eliminated by EX result, it had to go to since it was cutting supply to units in and east of Moscow.

End of Russian turn 4.  To the left you can see the VP marker one space shy of the Turn 6 VP victory. 

Russian units move to keep the Germans from taking the space south of Moscow - taking that would give the 1vp needed for the turn 6 win.  They also try to attack Moscow from 3 hexes but the Germans force them to also attack the panzers outside Moscow and the German infantry manage to hold.

End of German turn 5, first winter turn so there is a 2 left shift for any attack (which is bad news)  VPs are really at 22 since we figured out the Surrendered units did not really both surrender.

Germany reinforces Moscow and puts the unit to the south of it OOS.  If it is not put back in supply it will surrender causing a 1vp shift to the Germans.

End of Russian turn 5 and the game.

The Russians attack the Panzer outside Moscow in an attempt to free the OOS unit, they could have put a unit right next to the OOS unit but they thought the Germans had a card to force them to attack the units IN Moscow if they did so - as well as the Panzer unit West of Moscow.  The Germans did have a card to force a Left shift and another to double the defense strength of the Panzer they did attack.  The result was an EX which left the OOS Russian unit to die and the game ended with German victory.

What do wargamers do in nice weather - open up a window and keep on playing!

Final note - fun game, fast playing, reasonably historical.  Though it is not a card driven game (card enhanced is the term I hear) the cards add a nice random element to it.  You can never be sure if you opponent has a card that will allow him to move and attack, shift the defense, or a host of other things till after you declare a combat.  Cards are also used to bring units back from the dead pile or to strategic move more than one a turn or to force the opponent to attack a hex they do not want to attack.  Another interesting twist is that a single unit can attack more than one hex of defenders - the defender chooses which one to use as the primary target for terrain effect purposes and all of them suffer the results (this comes in really handy for the defender when they place counterblow markers - those are hexes the attacker has to attack in addition to what they chose to attack).