I have been designing military history boardgames about the Battle of Moscow since 1973. This game is the little brother of a game twice this scale (which is 40 miles -- or 65 kilometers -- per hex, by the way) which will be at 20 miles per hex. However, I wanted to do a simpler, introductory version for my webpage.

Discarding the use of "zones of control" -- hexes adjacent to a hex occupied by a unit -- for stopping enemy movement was/is highly successful in my GERMAN EAGLE VS. RUSSIAN BEAR, and I decided it could be, for this game at this scale, as well. Just the prohibition against retreating into hexes adjacent to attackers -- reminiscent of Robert Bradley's old classic, FALL BARBAROSSA -- is adequate for surrounding and annihilating enemy units in combat conditions.

The air rules are similar to those in 1st ALAMEIN, my also-free desert game on my webpage -- insisted upon by my aero-son, Robert.

Of course, the key to this comparatively simple wargame system is that German armies and corps (but not divisions) are mutually supporting in defense, but this is not true for the Russians. This reflects the better, radio-facilitated defensive/artillery coordination of the Germans, and it enables the German Player to penetrate deeply with narrow breakthroughs made by spearhead -- Schwerpunkt -- units, like the Panzer groups/armies.

Advice on Strategy and Tactics:

For the Germans:

• Tactically advance eastward after combat as much and often as you can, without exposing your forces with complete recklessness. Remember that your Panzer divisions are not mutually supporting and can be (and make their neighbors) vulnerable to counterattack, so try to keep them stacked with corps and army size units.
• As the Panzer general "Schnell Heinz" [my nickname for him] Guderian used to say, "Rocks! Not pebbles!" High-odds attacks with chances of Breakthroughs can obliterate entire defending lines.
  On the other hand, the Combat Results Table is constructed so that a roll of "1" can frustrate even those high odds attacks, so ...

• If you have sufficient units, a low-odds attack can Disperse or Spend large numbers of German units. (Just "Spending" German units in operational combat is useless, though, since they are to be recovered/refaced at the impending end of the game-turn.) Indeed, when attacking, try doing so in "waves," so that a low-odds attack may Disperse/weaken -- "soften up" -- German defenders for a big attack to follow.
• I'd advise not declaring "No Retreat!" in the first 2 or 3 turns of the game.
  When the Germans are at the very gates of Moscow, THAT is a good time!
• If possible -- unless the German Player uses his units for "interception" -- avoid air-to-air combat at least until you have all 4 front units on the board. Attacking German ground units which are vital to the German attack will likely provoke interception, so in the opening turns, use your air units "indirectly" (attacking German ground units off the main axis of attack), if you want to "keep'em flying."

Historical Background:-- More to come.
Historically, the Nazi Germans' offensive against Moscow -- "Operation Typhoon" -- started on October 1, 1941, and stopped with Stalin's unleashing of Marshal Zhukov's massive counteroffensive on December 5, 1941 (only 2 days before we Americans were shocked into the war by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor).
Although the Russians' opening losses were horrendous -- estimates are as high as 800,000 men killed (or captured and then mostly killed in German concentration camps) and thousands of tanks and guns destroyed or captured -- the Russian people had now realized that the Germans were killers and enslavers, not liberators, and those soldiers fought stubbornly, diverting the attackers from a straight advance to and capture of Moscow.
Thereafter, the Russian winter offensive railed against the German outposts until casualties and the spring thaw forced its complete cessation on April 30, 1942.
In fairness, it should be noted that contrary to general impression in the West, German troops outnumbered Russian troops, especially after the Russians' fearful opening losses.

Bibliography:

Books:

• Bergstrom, Christer, and Andrey Mikailov. "Chapter 23: Typhoon against Moscow." BLACK CROSS/RED STAR: AIR WAR OVER THE EASTERN FRONT. Vol. 1, Operation Barbarossa, 1941. Pacifica CA: Pacifica Military History, 2000.
  A good summary, covering key encounters and bombing targets, with some indication of strengths and losses.
• Eremenko, A.I. V NACHALYE VOINI. Moscow: NAUKA, 1964.
  Published in English as ARDUOUS BEGINNING, Eremenko was the Bryansk Front commander in the opening days of the German offensive ... until wounded. The Russian edition contains the one map that helped me identify Reiter's tank-cavalry group behind the front, east of Bryansk.
• Fedorov, A.G. AVIATSIYA V BITVE POD MOSKVOI. Moscow: NAUKA, 1975.
  The air battle, from the Russian point of view, with detailed tables of units and their strengths and nice photographs.
• Harvey, A.D. "The Soviet Air Force versus the Luftwaffe: A.D. Harvey assesses the role of the Soviet Air Force in the defeat of Nazism." HISTORY TODAY 15, no. 1. 48-53.
  Excellent little summary of Red Air Force losses and recovery.
• Jukes, Geoffrey. THE DEFENSE OF MOSCOW. (Ballantine's Illustrated History of World War II, Battle Book no. 13.) NY: Ballantine, 1970.
  A nice summary of the battle, but drawing heavily on quotes from Zhukov.
• MOSCOW, STALINGRAD, 1941/1942: RECOLLECTIONS, STORIES, REPORTS. Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1970.
  A collection of brief accounts by principal figures of the battle -- Zhukov, Rokossovsky, Vasilevsky, etc. -- intended for Western readers and historians.
• Muriyev, Dado. THE ROUT OF "TYPHOON." Moscow: Novosti Press Agency, 1979.
  A small booklet, picked up at the Soviet DC embassy, typical for its stressing of force ratios and other factual aspects of the battle.
• Pegova, A.M. OPOLCHENIYE NA ZASHCHITYE MOSKVI. Moscow: Moscow Workers, 1978.
  Describes the formation and battle histories of Moscow's "people's" -- militia -- divisions in the defense of the city.
• Piekalkiewicz, Janusz. DIE SCHLACHT UM MOSKAU. Pawlak, 1981.
  Another of Piekalkiewicz's excellent books on major battles of the European theater. Others I know of include Stalingrad and Arnhem.
• Seaton, Albert. THE BATTLE FOR MOSCOW. Rockville Centre NY: Playboy Press[!}, 1971.
  A colonel in the British Army, Seaton's account is a useful survey, but much of his analysis has been bitterly resented by Russian historians.
• Sokolovski, . RAZGROM NEMETSKO-FASHISTSKIKH VOISK POD MOSKVOI
  The official account of operations, with a supplementary album of beautiful situation maps down to brigade level detail.

Poroskov, Nikolai. "The Battle for Moscow." RUSSIAN LIFE, Nov/Dec01, pp. 49-55.

• BATTLE FOR MOSCOW. New York: SPI, .
  Interestingly, this old classic -- published in issue no. 24 of STRATEGY & TACTICS magazine -- included the Russian Front all the way up to Finland, forcing both players to choose which objectives to attack/defend.
  While the Russian armies and tank forces were nicely grouped, the German units were all division level and therefore time-consumingly numerous for the game's scale. Terrain was ... shall we say ... abbreviated.
  Nonetheless, this remains a good introductory game for beginners, although it is now a highly prized collector's item.
• BATTLE FOR MOSCOW. Bloomington IL: Game Designers Workshop, 1986.
  Another comparatively simple wargame about the Battle of Moscow, this designed by the company's owner, Frank Chadwick, and was printed and distributed as a free! introductory game.
  It too can be printed off, assembled, and played, from the "Grognard" webpage http://www.Grognard.com/bfm/index.html
• MOSCOW CAMPAIGN. New York: SPI, .
  This used an early SPI move/combat/breakthrough-movement game system which included overruns of unsupported Russian tank brigades.
• MOSCOW '41: A HISTORICAL SIMULATION -- THE BATTLE FOR MOSCOW, 1941. Dean S. Ross, 1981.
  A fascinating, strange little boardgame without pieces/units! Using transparent covers, players are supposed to mark units' positions and strengths on a typical hexagon-grid mapsheet -- approximately 12 hexes from Smolensk to Moscow for ... 20 miles per hex? -- and then erase and remark unit redeployments. Lots of players' aids and addenda.
• TYPHOON: THE DRIVE ON MOSCOW, 1941. GMT, 1995
  Designed by Vance von Borries -- maps by Joe Youst -- "Research Assistance" by ... me. :-) A very large-scale treatment with beautiful maps and graphics -- division level for the Russians, regiment level (usually) for the Germans. Hundreds of units/pieces!
• MOSCOW 1941: THE ENEMY AT THE GATES. TSR/SPI, 1987.
  Designed by David Cook -- maps by Kevin Zucker. Although at division-level for Russian units, they are generalized in strength. Cook describes difficulties he/TSR had researching the Russian units. I can sympathize.
• EAST FRONT BATTLES II: SPIRES OF THE KREMLIN. 3W, 1993-95.
  Game and maps designed by Joe Youst -- see above -- and published by the indefatigable Keith Poulter. A very large-scale game with 3 full-size mapsheets from north to south and hundreds of pieces/units. Oddly, the map coverage seems to stop just east of Moscow.

(17Mar02, rev. 19Jan03)