The Enemy is at the Gates: The Battle for Berlin

 As befits a game on modern war, air power, helicopters, electronic warfare, chemical weapons, and sabotage will be included as well. Using all your weapons effectively will determine who wins the battle for Berlin!

The East Germans were well prepared to attack and conquer West Berlin. Every step of the process was thoroughly planned. The Battle was to take no more than three days. Major installations and infrastructure compounds were the primary targets. Airports and train stations would be destroyed. The NATO forces in the great city were to be crushed with no hope of relief. After the utter defeat of the organized enemy armed forces in the city, the second phase of the Communist operation would see the imprisonment of politicians, police officers, journalists, and all deemed a danger to the state. From the crack Friedrich Engels Guard Regiment to the 1st Motorized Rifle Division – as well as paramilitary forces of the Socialist Unity Party, East Germany was ready. The Soviets had their own elite force of the 6th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade in East Berlin, ready to join the fight. And, if anything went astray in the plans, the massive 35th Motorized Rifle Division was 10 miles away to the west and available to intervene if needed. The Warsaw Pact forces massively outnumbered the isolated NATO forces.

But NATO was not ill prepared for what might come. But while the forces there were under no illusion of what would undoubtably happen if war ever came, they too were well trained and ready to give their best. NATO had three independent brigades in West Berlin. The well-equipped and famous “Berlin Brigade” of the US Army, The Berlin Infantry Brigade of the UK, and The Forces Françaises à Berlin from the French Army. Three strong brigades fully armed with tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, and artillery. In addition, the numerous, if less well equipped, West German Police forces were to stand with their NATO Allies. It would perhaps be a stiffer fight than the East German planners were envisioning. The Stage was set. The fight that never happened would begin in this strange reality in the early hours of August 1, 1985 in this alternative nightmare that never happened. The artillery would light up the sky.

Product Information:

Complexity: 8 out of 10

Solitaire Suitability: 8 out of 10

Time Scale: 2 hours per turn

Map Scale: 500 meters per hex

Unit Scale: Company/Platoon

Players: 1-4

Playing time: 2-50 hours depending upon scenario

Scenarios:

8 Scenarios are included

Components:

Four Maps at 22” by 34″

One Map at 8.5″ by 11″

Nine 5/8″ inch Counter sheets

One CSS Rulebook

One Exclusive Rulebook

Two Identical CRTs and TECs

One Weather/Date Display

Eight Division Displays

One Scenario Book

Four Ten-sided dice

One Box and lid

Game Credits:

Designer: Adam Starkweather

Graphic Designer: Antonio Pinar