Drang Nach Osten!
1973 board wargame
Drang Nach Osten! ("Drive to the East!") is a monster board wargame published in 1973 by Game Designers' Workshop (GDW) that simulates Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. The game was the first of what was envisioned as a series of games with identical wargame rules and map scale that would simulate the entire Second World War in Europe.
Description
Drang Nach Osten!, characterized as a "monster game" because it has more than 1000 counters, is a two-player (or two-team) game that covers Operation Barbarossa along World War II's Eastern Front between 22 June 1941 and 31 March 1942.
Components
The game, packaged in a ziplock bag, contains:
1792 die-cut counters
Five 21" x 27" maps that, when put together, cover the Eastern Front from Warsaw in the west to Stalingrad in the east, and from Murmansk in the north to Sevastopol in the south. The map scale used in the entire Europa series is 25 km (16 mi) per hex.
Rules folder with 20-page rulebook and game cover art
Ten charts and aids
Gameplay
Each turn represents 2 weeks of game time – characterized as first half of the month and last half of the month. Movement is modified by both terrain and weather. Combat results are determined by the ratio of attackers to defenders. Supplies are dependent upon home cities that act as supply depots.
“Drang Nach Osten!” enters the record as 1973 board wargame. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Drang, Nach and Osten can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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