On the Road to Berlin:
A Designer’s Preview
By Mike Bennighof, Ph.D.
May 2006

After several years’ gestation, it’s almost time to unveil the latest major release in the Panzer Grenadier line, Road to Berlin.

Because we put 112 scenarios in Eastern Front Deluxe Edition, we felt it important to include a large number in Road to Berlin as well, even though all of Berlin’s would be new where 48 of Eastern Front’s had appeared in the game’s first edition. That made it the largest design job I’ve ever tackled, though not the largest we’ve published — Leyte Gulf represents far more design and research effort.

Physically, Road to Berlin has the same number of maps (eight) as Eastern Front Deluxe, but 165 more playing pieces. These are less open than those of the earliergame, as the fighting took place in parts of Poland, Germany and Hungary with more hills, farms, forest and small towns. So the boards have much more limiting terrain on them. There are two boards with large hills; these were designed with the Seelow Heights east of Berlin in mind where heavy fighting occured in April 1945, but proved very useful for the hills of western Hungary as well.

There’s just one river board, as opposed to two in Eastern Front, but it’s a very wide river, sometimes two hexes wide and it has an island in it. There are of course special rules for crossing a wide river, and for getting on and off the island. There are also swamps and ponds, reflecting the terrain of Eastern Europe, and more woods, usually broken up by fields and towns.

Artwork on them is by Shannon Brown, but uses the same style as those in Eastern Front Deluxe and they’re completely compatible.

There are 825 playing pieces, including 165 markers. The combat units represent six distinct services: the Red Army of Workers and Peasants, Soviet Guards, the German regular Army, the German Navy, the Waffen SS and the Royal Hungarian Army. There are many new tank types: German Royal Tigers and Jagdpanthers, Soviet T-34/85, JS-2, KV-85 and Sherman tanks and SU-76, SU-85, SU-100, SU-122 and JSU-152 assault guns. The Soviets even have SU-76i assault guns (modified captured German PzKfw III tanks) and captured Tiger and Panther tanks.

The Tiger tanks see plenty of action (at least the German ones); there are nine Royal Tigers (six Army and three SS) and three just plain Tigers. Royal Tiger (also known as Tiger II) tanks appear in 20 of the 75 scenarios, with as many as six of them in play at once. Several times they challenge the Soviet equivalent, the JS-2 heavy tank.

To make room for all of those tanks, the Hungarian contingent is much smaller than initially planned. Hungarian troops appear in five scenarios; by 1945 the Royal Hungarian Army was pretty well spent and only two of its divisions were still considered truly combat capable. The German Navy shows up once; the sailors are not very keen on fighting land battles.

All 75 scenarios take place during 1945; conveniently the Germans launched their Operation Konrad offensive in Hungary on New Year’s Day and that becomes our starting point. Though the Soviets had the operational initiative and thrashed the Germans pretty soundly in the wider context of the war, on the tactical level the Germans are still capable of putting up a fight under some circumstances. In the actions depicted, particularly those set in Hungary, the Germans are often on the attack and even have local superiority. Their unit quality varies from phenomenol to the utterly incompetent.

Sixteen scenarios are set in the epic battle around the Seelow Heights. A dozen come from Operation Konrad in Hungary. The rest range from the Courland Pocket, through the battle for Vienna, to East Prussia and back to Hungary. Playing times range from an hour or so to many yours; game size (someone will demand to know) goes: four scenarios with one map, 24 with two, nine with three, 30 with four and eight with six. There are no scenarios requiring parts from another game, or from another copy of this one.

There are many tank battles, there are infantry fights, there are even fighting women (in “She-Wolves of the SS” female guards from the Ravensbruck camp spearhead an attack; in “Heroine of the Soviet Union” Guards Senior Sgt. Lara Kravets, a party organizer by trade, takes up a pistol when all the officers fall dead and leads the 63rd Guards Rifle Regiment to victory over the fascists). There are river crossings, meeting engagements, frontal assaults on fortified lines, and even suicidal pro-Nazi Russians. It’s a wide mix of scenarios, drawing on sources in German, Russian and Magyarul. Plus, Road to Berlin was designed alongside the new Third Edition series rules and every copy sold will have these included.

A long time ago I stopped ending design notes with “I hope you have as much fun playing the game as I did designing it.” Because it wasn’t much fun at all: Road to Berlin represents an enormous amount of research, writing and design. But what’s emerged from Doug McNair’s development does exactly what I wanted it to: It shows the Nazi regime could put up an enormous fight on the tactical level even well after the war had clearly been lost. I think you’ll find both fun and historical interest in playing it.

Click here to order Road to Berlin!