January 2009 Play It!

By Armchair General

 

Rommel in Normandy
Fire up your PC and see if you can help the Desert Fox repel the largest invasion in history, with Panzer Campaigns 2: Normandy ’44 (HPS) or the "Normandy Rommel" scenario in The Operational Art of War III (Matrix Games). Boardgamers, Field Commander Rommel (Dan Verssen Games) is a solitaire simulation of the subject.

Operation Market-Garden
How would you fare in carrying out this bold plan? Find out with PC games like Highway to the Reich (Panther Games) or Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway (Ubisoft). An Operation Market-Garden download is available for Call of Duty 4 (Activision). Boardgames include The Devil’s Cauldron (MMP) and Arnhem — Defiant Stand (Critical Hit). Many other games have explored this operation, including Operation Market-Garden, a double-blind boardgame from GDW; and the boardgames Hell’s Highway (Victory Games) and Storm Over Arnhem (The Avalon Hill Game Co.) All three are, unfortunately out of print (OoP). ONLINE SPECIAL: Read John Antal’s narrative based on the Market-Garden scenario in this issue of ACG, adapted from his novel Band of Brothers: Hell’s Highway, a companion book to the Activision computer game.

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Napoleon in Spain 1808
The Iberian Peninsula was a tough place to fight, as Napoleon learned. Test your ability to survive and win there with Napoleon’s Campaigns (AGEOD) for the PC. Rise to prominence with the Duke of Wellington in the boardgame Wellington: The Peninsular War 1812 – 1814 (GMT Games).

Great Warriors
Join the tankisti with the PC games Red Orchestra (Tripwire International). There are also John Tiller’s Campaign Series and Steel Panthers Generals Edition, both from Matrix Games. Tactical scenarios abound in two games of the Panzer Grenadier boardgame series, Panzer Grenadier: Eastern Front and PG: Heroes of the Soviet Union (Avalanche Press). Conflict of Heroes: Awakening the Bear! – Russia 1941-1942 (Academy Games) is a tactical-level boardgame, and of course there is always the father of modern wargames, PanzerBlitz (The Avalon Hill Game Co., OoP).

50 Battles That Changed the World
The staff of Armchair General compiled a list of computer and board games that will let you play these great battles.