An upcoming WWII title which looks to be a perfect gateway into wargaming is arriving next month from GMT Games. Hitler’s Reich pits Axis and Allies players against each other as battle rages across Europe. The design promises to be easy to learn and the game playable to a conclusion in a couple of hours. Hitler’s Reich is essentially for two players, although there are variants for team as well as solo play. The game carries an MSRP of $69.00.
From GMT:
No stacks of armies, no hexes, no overly-lengthy rules to learn – Hitler’s Reich takes five minutes to set up and two hours (or less!) to play. Players fight over Europe, across North Africa, the Atlantic and Mediterranean, and into Russia using a simple dice-enhanced conflict card comparison combat mechanism. Or, as one BGG poster better put it, “a simultaneous revelation of cards similar to Twilight Struggle’s Headline Phase, but with a choice of what Conflict Card to play” – all with dice added in. High-quality wooden pieces mark their progress, which is aided economically, politically and on the battlefield through the competition for and play of Event Cards drawn from three unique decks: one for the Axis, one for the Allies, and one from which either side can attempt to draw.
Hitler’s Reich is the first of the Card Conquest System game series in which players recreate epic military contests of history in short, comparatively simple and easy to learn, but hard to master games. Designed to be set up in minutes and played to conclusion in one sitting, these are not simulations but games, albeit ones packed with enough historical flavor, excitement, and decision making to give you the feeling of being there at the highest levels of command.
In Hitler’s Reich, one side is the Axis of Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and their East European minions. The other is the Allies of the United States, Great Britain and the Commonwealth, along with the Soviet Union. It is April of 1941 and Hitler, already master of Europe and much of the Mediterranean, is poised to launch his great march East – Operation Barbarossa: the invasion of Soviet Russia.
Note: Although Hitler’s Reich is designed for two players, a three- and four-player variant is included for multi-player and team play as well as an intriguing solitaire game.