March 2007 Play It!

Armchair General

Combat! Wolftrap: Germans vs. Soviet Partisans

One of the best games for playing tactical engagements of this sort is Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin.  One involving Partisans is called "A Deadly Affair." Another scenario puts Romanians up against Partisans in "Hunting Slobo’s Band." A third scenario pits the Germans against the Poles in "Ghetto Uprising."

WALK WHERE THEY FOUGHT Stalingrad: Slaughterhouse in the East An exclusive tour of the city on the Volga where Hitler’s Sixth Army fought Stalin’s Russian legions in the East Front’s epic, turning-point battle.

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Relive the ferocious fighting of Stalingrad by playing Call of Duty 2 (Activision), Panzer Command: Operation Winter Storm (Matrix Games), or Panzer Campaigns: Stalingrad ’42 (HPS). If you enjoy boardgames, check out Streets of Stalingrad by L2 Design or one of the many ASL (Multiman Publishing) scenarios for this battle.

WHAT NEXT GENERAL? Rommel’s Blitzkrieg, 1940 Before becoming the “Desert Fox,” Rommel spearheaded the lightning assault that overran France in six weeks. Take charge in this historically based, interactive article.

You can explore the 1940 campaign in more detail on the PC using France ’40 and First Blitzkrieg (both from HPS), Theatre of War (Battlefront), or a small boardgame called Strange Defeat: The Fall of France 1940 (Avalanche Press).

YOU COMMAND Atlantic U-Boat Attack, 1943 Test your decision-making skills as a German submarine commander takes on an Allied convoy.

Run silent, run deep with Silent Hunter III or IV (Ubisoft) as well as modern day simulations such as Dangerous Waters (SCS) or Harpoon 3: Advanced Naval Warfare (Matrix Games). You can also check out the recent boardgame Silent War (Compass Games) to get your fix.