In June of 1944 Adolf _____ was expecting the coming Soviet summer offensive to be launched against the German front line south of the Pripet Marshes. Instead, Stalin unleashed a massive attack on the very cornerstone of the German Army--Army Group Center which held a massive salient to the north. This was Operation BAGRATION, an all-out offensive to crush Army Group Center, concentrating armor, artillery and aircraft.
The Red Army quickly broke through the thinly held German lines and encircled the fortified cities of Vitebsk, Orsha, Mogilev, and Bobruysk. Then the Soviet tank and mechanized formations swept on westward toward the very heart of the Third Reich. Taken by surprise, the majority of the German Fourth and Ninth Armies were trapped between Minsk and the Berezina River. It was a catastrophic defeat, destroying 28 of 34 German divisions from Army Group Center’s order of battle. So complete was the Soviet victory that five weeks later the Red Army was on the banks of the Vistula River and the borders of East Prussia.
There are 42 Scenarios, including the main Soviet assault launched on 23 June in the north and 24 June in the south. Campaign scenario covers the first thirteen days of the offensive and breakthrough until the time the offensive lost momentum. Smaller scenarios covering specific actions and “what if” situations. Many scenarios have a special play-by-email version where conditions such as supply, release of reserves, and victory levels have been altered for play balance.
Order of battle and scenario editors are included which allow players to customize the game. There is no limit on the scenarios that can be created and the sub-map feature allows the main map to be “chopped up” into the size that best fits the situation.
As is the hallmark of all John Tiller games, Minsk ’44 brings changes to the game engine for the series that enhance the campaign being wargamed. As always, all new features will be rolled out free to the previous titles in the series. These include:
• New partisan unit type with new effectives on supply and units moving in the rear.
• New game effects whereby indirect fire is twice as disruptive to HQ units as normal.
• New Quality Fatigue Modifier optional rule.
• New command effect: detached units (those beyond the command range) can no longer call in Artillery or Air Support.
• A number of specific AI improvements have been made in an effort to make the game more enjoyable against the computer.
• Scenario Editor: New ability to define a Direct AI Order to assist the AI in attacking over major obstacles such as rivers, thus making the game system more tenacious on the attack.
• New ability to highlight a single unit which allows AI orders to be given to that unit.
Minsk ’44 provides multiple play options including play against the computer AI, Play by e-mail (PBEM), LAN & Internet “live” play, and two-player hotseat. Rev up your T-34 or Tiger tank and be prepared to participate in one of the greatest campaigns of World War Two!
Minimum Requirements:
• Pentium-based 200mhz+ PC.
• 32 megabytes of RAM.
• 250 Mb disk space.
• Windows 98/2K/XP operating system.
• DirectX 8.1+ is required and will install if not already present and not superseded.
• Win95 is not supported.
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