BLITZKRIEG is the first game in the TSWW series. Now sold out (other than as a self print version) direct from DE Ltd., I am delighted to announce that we will be moving this great game back to press in 2016-17.
Blitzkrieg is the all encompassing operational game covering the campaigns in Poland (39), France (40), and Scandinavia (40). Version 2.0 will also extend the time frame from 1939-41 to include 1939-43, thus permitting us to marry it up very precisely with Barbarossa and Mare Nostrum, not to mention Liberation!
Blitzkrieg V2.0 will include in its not insignificant contents:
MAPS
17 TSWW Standard (about 18″ x 26″) maps, covering Europe from Ireland to Poland, Norway to Northern Italy. We will also be including a sea map display for the North Atlantic, and if we can make it work, will include the River Plate estuary! Mapping will be upgraded to match the standard in Mare Nostrum – which includes better city size data, cleaner river lines, adjustment to critical on map data like ports and names to minimise difficult to read elements, and will include slightly more total map area than in the older V1.29 version of the game. All mapping will be designed to overlap the existing maps without issues. Finish will be similar to the map in Operation Merkur, which has a plasticised coating to prevent creasing on the folds, minimise the risk of tearing, and to make the maps significantly more resilient to accidental spills or mishaps.
It is crucial for us to make clear that these maps split into smaller sections permitting play in small spaces of elements of the game, or campaign by campaign. Unlike most of our competitors, you will not need an aircraft hangar to thoroughly enjoy the playing experience of Blitzkrieg V2.0 (or any of our other titles).
COUNTERS
There will be a minimum of 5580 counters in the box, and it is entirely probable that the game will ship with 6700 (24 countersheets). This represents a 25-50% increase on V1.29, and is a result of us extending the game time frame to provide the German Wehrkrise system, Allied raiding operations against Norway and France, Dieppe, and, for owners of Mare Nostrum, Operations Sledgehammer and Round Up. This is a massive increase in content. The counters will include forces from the Belgians, British, Danish, Dutch, French, Germans, Italian, Norwegian, and Soviet armed forces, and will also include some additional US forces not fully represented in Mare Nostrum. Allied air operations over the continent will also be covered, along with the ever increasing German scramble to defend their homeland against the ever increasing weight of Anglo-American air raids.
RULES
Whilst not able to confirm the precise page total, these will be the most up to date system wide rules set available on publication, with all nations present in the TSWW series represented. As such, Blitzkreig’s rules will be the State of the Art, and will include hidden movement, production, political, as well as military rules for the game.
ORDERS OF BATTLE
The OBs will be significantly extended where applicable, with additional what if forces for 3rd Republic France in the event that Germany fails to knock it out of the war. German garrisons, wehrkrise and reinforcement army units will be in the box for the first time, whilst the expansion of the British military will take it, particularly the RAF and Royal Navy to a level of detail during the 1941-3 period to a level currently unavailable to our knowledge in any other game product.
The Mare Nostrum format of a general OB file for the grand campaign with a complementary At Start booklet detailing the modules included in the box will be repeated for this title. In the At Start booklet will be modules for:
1. Battle of the River Plate.
2. Fall Weiss (the invasion of Poland)
3. Fall Gelb (the invasion of France)
4. Weserubung (the invasion of Norway and Denmark)
5. The Battle of Britain
6. Operation Sea Lion (the planned invasion of Britain)
7. Hitler’s Wet Dream (Germany actually gets a navy – and is much more ready for a war)
8. The Allies Prepared (the Allies deal with module 7 by being more ready themselves!)
9. Hunt the Bismarck!
10. Arctic Convoys (planned, not set in stone, this will show the horrors of the PQ series of convoys)
11. Operation Sledgehammer (the Allied planned invasion of France, 1942)
12. Operation Jubilee (the allied raid on Dieppe)
13. Operation Round Up (the Allied planned invasion of France, spring 1943)
14. Reaping the Whirlwind (the Strategic Air War, 1939-43)
15 – anything else we can fit in the box.
CHARTS
These will be full colour, and we are considering having them printed by our commercial print solution. There will be approximately 36 pages thereof – but clearly this requires additional work before being finalised.
PRE ORDER
We will be placing this game on “kickstart” or “pre-order” if you prefer late in 2015. Watch the blog and this space for news on the release of the game to pre-order. Price is To Be Confirmed at this time.