Battles in the East 3: Battle for Pomerania and Drive to the Sea, 1945

Drive to the Sea

West Prussia, January 1945: Stalin’s agenda focused on the conquest of Prussia, the first German territory reached by the advancing Red Army. The German Army, ahead of a total collapse, prepared a ‘defense in depth’ while deploying many Prussian recruited units to defend the region. The Soviet plan was simple—drive from the east while also cutting Prussia from the rest of Germany. The Soviets earmarked Rokossovsky’s 2 Belorussian Front for the task with the veteran 5th Guard Tank Army selected for the drive to the sea. The game runs from 13th January 1945–1st February 1945, a total of 10 game turns.

Battle for Pomerania

Pomerania, February 1945: By February 1945 the German Army faced a desperate situation. The Soviets under Zhukov regrouped at the Oder River preparing to press forward to capture Berlin. However, the northern flank of his Belorussian Front was thinly held and the besieged German garrison in the town of Arnswalde continued to hold. Himmler, with his personal credibility in terminal decline, opted to utilize vital German reserves and SS units to launch a relief effort of limited forces to drive south, relieve Arnswalde, and severely disrupt the Soviet plans. Once the Stavka, the Soviet General Headquarters, recognized the danger, clearing Pomerania became their objective for February and early March 1945. Himmler soon found himself out of his depth in a bloody campaign in Northeast Germany. The game runs from 15th February 1945–5th March 1945, a total of 10 game turns.

Game Contents

• One double-sided 22×34 inch game board

• 440 die-cut 5⁄8-inch counters

• 16-page system rules booklet

• System charts card (2 sets)

• Scenario rules/setup cards (2 sets of 2)

• Scenario display card

• 1 six-sided die

• Storage bags