| Man,
Myth, and Militarists
By William Sariego
July 2013
During World War II, history
saw some of the last movers and shakers pass
across the stage of military history. Warfare
today is quite impersonal as technology has
made killing one another in mass quantities
as easy as the touch of a button. While the
role of the hero in history can be exaggerated,
it makes for a cool variant for both Third
Reich and The
Great Pacific War. This article will
deal with army leaders in Europe and a future
update will cover air and naval commanders
for the Pacific theater.
Of Generals and Field Marshals
We're presenting a
free download with 37 leader pieces. The
left number under a leader's flag is his attack
strength, the right his defense. A leader
will either be an infantry or armor general;
armor leaders have their attack strength highlighted.
| 
Armor leader Charles de Gaulle, 1939.
|
A leader must be placed on a HQ of the same
nationality (with one exception). The exception
is Rommel. He can be assigned to an Italian
HQ and modify battles as long as at least
one German unit is involved. When the HQ is
activated, the leader can be placed with any
attacking unit activated by that HQ and modify
the number of dice rolled. A leader can be
committed to defense within three hexes of
his HQ. Once committed, flip the leader piece
to its reverse. A leader can only affect one
combat per turn. A leader adds the number
of dice equal to his combat value. The die
(or dice) added by an armored leader hit as
an armored unit does, but only if at least
one ARM unit is involved in the battle.
A leader can be lost if
his side suffers an adverse affect (step loss
or retreat) in the affected combat. Roll one
die: On a result of 1 or 2 remove him from
the game (sacked or a casualty); on a result
of 3 or 4 place him in the force pool. On
a result of 5 or 6 there is no effect. The
German player subtracts one from this die
roll, as der Führer is not very forgiving.
To bring a leader into the
game the player pays 1 BRP x the leader's
total rating, doubling the cost for an armor
leader (so Bradley costs two BRP's, Rommel
four). If you purchase a leader and already
have a full complement on board you may "retire"
one of your choice to the Force Pool. Leaders
are placed in the nation's capital after purchase
and can move by SR (not counting against the
nation's limit) during that phase (between
capital and HQ, or between HQ's).
| 
Saló, home of Mussolini’s
last stand. The less attractive end
of Lago di Garda.
|
Three national leaders are included in the
variant. Hitler ("Gröfaz" —
Grösser Feldherr Aller Zeiten, "Greatest
General of All Time," the ironic nickname
bestowed by cynical Berliners in 1945) and
Stalin are set up in Berlin and Moscow, respectively,
at the start. They may never move from there
(ignore Hitler's tours of different headquarters
and hideaways for simplicity). Hitler dies
if Berlin falls (or the political marker is
drawn), with all the effects of the political
marker. Roll one die for Stalin if Moscow
is captured. He dies fighting on 1 through
3, otherwise the Soviet player may re-deploy
him to any other objective city in the Soviet
Union. Repeat this roll if the new capital
is captured. If the Republic of Saló
is created place Mussolini in Milano. He flees
to Switzerland (remove him from the game)
after an Allied attack on Milano, regardless
of whether it is captured or not.
Order of Appearance
BRITAIN
- At Start: O'Connor
- 1940: Wavell
- 1941: Auchinleck
- 1942: Montgomery
FRANCE
- At Start: Georges
- 1940: De Gaulle
UNITED STATES
- At Start: Patton
- 1943: Clark
- 1944: Bradley, Devers
UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS
- At Start: Stalin, Budenny, Voroshilov
- 1940: Timoshenko
- 1941: Zhukov
- 1942: Konev, Vasilevsky
- 1943: Rokossovsky
- 1944: Malinovsky
GERMANY
- At Start: Gröfaz, Guderian, Kleist,
Rundstedt
- 1940: Bock
- 1941: Rommel, Kluge
- 1942: Manstein
- 1943: Hoth, Model
- 1944: Kesselring
ITALY
- At Start: Graziani
- 1941: Garoboldi, Messe
- 1943: Guzzoni
- Variable: Mussolini
Order Third
Reich now and
finish off the Nazis.
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