The Western Front of War Pack
Three ziplock back issues for a great price!
The Western Front Way of War package ...
What a great way to introduce yourself (or a friend) to ATO games, or catch up on back issues you've been meaning to get. A price like this is almost "buy 2, get one free." Don't miss it!
If World War II could be described like the movements of a symphony, surely the year 1944 represents the most powerful grand crescendo... the enormous battles waged by the Allies on every front with massive results.
Now, the "western Front Way of War" gives you three great back issues that capture three remarkable campaigns.
Monty's D-Day
"Monty's D-Day" looks at the British and Canadian landings in June, 1944. First published in 1985 and well received, now four decades later, designer John Prados has smoothed and polished the MDD system, and added rules for parachute and amphibious landings, plus new German alternative responses.
Monty’s D-Day explores the D-Day assault frontage that was targeted by Commonwealth forces under Miles Dempsey which -- likely -- got much more of overall commander General Bernard L. Montgomery's attention. Most certainly, the objectives for the Anglo-Canadian beaches sound like Montgomery talking. The city of Caen, nine miles inland, was targeted for capture on D-Day itself. It actually fell in late July, and only after the city had been leveled by bombing. Was it a "city too far?"
Monty's D-Day and issue #54 of ATO:
Map - One full color 22" x 34" hex mapsheet
Counters - 280 full color 1/2" die-cut playing pieces
Rules length - 14 pages
Charts and tables - 2 pages
Complexity - Medium
Playing time - Up to 4 hours for the scenarios, 12 to 15 hours for the full campaign game
How challenging is it solitaire? - Good
Design - John Prados
Development - Lembit Tohver
Graphic Design - Mark Mahaffey
Two great solitaire games in one issue!
Cassino by Paul Rohrbaugh: In early 1944 the western half of the German “Winter Line” in Italy was anchored by the town of Cassino high up on Monte Cassino, which also featured a centuries old Benedictine Abbey atop the peak. The position utterly dominated the surrounding valleys, so much so Allied troops HAD to take it to continue advancing on Rome.
Facing some of Germany’s best soldiers, the area was only captured 5 months later after four separate assaults, with the vast majority of the city was destroyed by aerial bombardment and vicious street to street fighting. Taking the town and heights resulted in 55,000 Allied casualties, with German losses being far fewer, estimated at around 20,000 killed and wounded. The stubborn defense of Cassino would reveal flaws in Allied tactics and bolster the confidence of the Third Reich to keep fighting.
Aachen by Mike Rinella: Five months later the world would see yet another account of the terrible cost of audacity. Fresh from a string of victories across the length of France, the US Command set its sights capture of the supposedly weakly held German city of Aachen. The Americans confidently made plans to surround the city, isolate it, and accept its surrender.
But being the former capital of the First Reich, and the first true German city to fall into Allied hands, the city’s propaganda value was simply too great: Hitler forbade surrender. He even grudgingly authorized releasing forces from his Ardennes Offensive build up to help the defenders. American troops would have to storm the city and take it by force. Hidden among the picturesque buildings was a fortress of bunkers, gun emplacements, sniper holes and death traps. The GIs advancing into the city would soon be fighting in the nightmare battlefield of Aachen.
Cities of the Damned and issue #60 of ATO
Maps - Two full color 17" x 22" mapsheets
Counters - 176 large 5/8" die-cut pieces
Rules length - 14 pages
Charts and tables - 2 pages
Complexity - Medium
Playing time - Up to 4 hours
How challenging is it solitaire? - Excellent
Designers - Mike Rinella and Paul Rohrbaugh
Development - David Jones
Graphic Design - Mark Mahaffey
Toppling the Reich
Toppling the Reich is an operational level simulation of the fighting for the Rhine River and Westwall that occurred in 1944 and 1945. Designer John Prados transports his Panzerkrieg game system to the Western Front to examine the major episodes of this clash. Using scenarios, which can also be linked together to form a campaign game, he covers the entire war in France and the Low Countries from early September 1944 to the German surrender in May 1945. Players on both sides will be challenged with conducting offensive operations as well as desperate defenses.
Toppling the Reich and the 2006 ATO Annual Magazine
Map - One full color 22" x 34" mapsheet
Counters - 480 full color 1/2" die-cut pieces
Rules length - 17 pages
Charts and tables - 3 pages
Complexity - Medium
Solitaire suitability - Average
Playing time - Up to 2 to 3 hours for the smaller scenarios, 12 to 15 hours for the full campaign game
Design - John Prados
Development - Paul Rohrbaugh
Graphic Design - Craig Grando
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